Ai No Itsudemo
by Bandit-sama
Summary: Sequel to Fox Tails. Just when Kurama and Mikai thought they had overcome everything and thought they were in the clear for their relationship to begin to bloom. But as the Makai tournament comes around,and changes everything. KuramaXOC FINISHED Oct 20, 0
1. Wish Of Sprit World

I don't own YYH or any of it's characters. I only own Mikai.

Yay! Here's the second part to Fox Tails! Haha! I love all of you who reviewed Fox Tails and I hope you really love this one too! Now this one is a bit darker, will have some sexual situations, and will follow the YYH timeline pretty much so. Here's the first chappie! I hope all of you love it! Thank you and enjoy! Oh and this may contain spoilers! You've been warned!

**04-20-07:** I've changed the huge grammar mistakes that were here before. Hopefully this story is easier to read now that everything is fixed!

* * *

Yusuke Urameshi watched the sun set behind him as an ice cream Sunday sat in front of him on a white table. Koenma was watching him look out to the sky, the colors reflecting in his eyes.

"Yusuke?" Koenma asked.

"What?"

"I have something to tell you that might lighten your mood a bit."

"Great now what?" Yusuke sighed. Everything around him had been falling apart. He discovered that his "Father" lived in the Makai and that he was some kind of weird demon. His fight with Sensui had been interrupted, his body taken over, and now he knew that he must travel to the Makai and meet the man who gave Yusuke his powers.

"Mikai's back in town."

"Really!?" Yusuke perked up. "Since when?"

"Since three days ago. George told me that Spirit world placed her on another mission here in Japan. I don't know what it is though."

"I don't care as long as she's back!" Yusuke smiled.

"If you can find her, ask her if she knows what's been going on in Spirit World," Koenma said as he took a bite of the ice cream.

"Yeah." Yusuke sighed as he stood up. "I'm gonna go now."

"Be careful Yusuke. Spirit World is still looking for you," Koenma warned.

"Yeah whatever!" Yusuke dismissed as he walked out of the store.

* * *

Yusuke walked around hoping to find Mikai. So many things were running through his head right now that he was surprised that he could walk straight. He was leaving for the Makai in a week; he made sure that Keiko knew, even though he didn't want to tell her.

_Maybe it would have better if I had just disappeared._ Yusuke thought.

_Things are gonna start happening soon Yusuke. And I don't want Keiko's heart to get broken._ Those were the words that Mikai had used about Keiko. Yusuke had followed them. He told Keiko that his heart wasn't into what she wanted, and she let him go. So now he was out and looking for the right one. Even though that was on the bottom of his list right now.

He heard something move in the bushes next to him. Yusuke's heartbeat soared as he backed up with his index finger out, ready for a fight.

"Meow!" A cat popped out and ran away.

"Stupid ass cat!" Yusuke yelled. "Dammit."

Yusuke hadn't been himself since his body was taken over. Not to mention that Spirit world as right up his ass trying to kill him. Everything worried him; nothing was like it used to be. Sensui was dead; he was no longer a Spirit detective, which meant no more fighting, and that was the only thing that he was ever good at. And now it was gone.

Yusuke walked into the park, the park in the same park where Kurama had gotten Mikai back from falling into Senkai. So many things had happened six months ago between the two, and after she left, all of their worlds fell once more. Sensui had taken so much out of all of them, that the small break that they where getting now was well earned. But the break was short lived, well for Yusuke anyway.

Yusuke watched as a squirrel chased another one across a few trees. They were fighting over food. Simple squirrels fighting over food like the demon kings in the Makai. Fighting over something as an opinion of what kind of food they should all eat. Demons were more like humans then Yusuke thought.

"Yusuke!" a female voice said from behind.

Yusuke turned around to see her, Mikai. Her long dark brown hair now had red highlights in them, her brown eyes were still the same gentle ones Yusuke knew, and she was wearing a black tang-top, which complemented her body, and baggy blue jeans.

"Hey there Yusuke," she said happily.

"Mikai!" Yusuke yelled as he jumped over the park bench and over to her. "Jeez you took long enough to come home!"

"Sorry! It takes forever to finish school in America!" Mikai said happily as she scratched the back of her head.

Yusuke looked down at Mikai's figure. She seemed a bit more mature. "Damn did your boobs get bigger?"

"Yusuke!" Mikai hissed.

"Oh sorry! So how have you been?" Yusuke asked.

"Fine." Mikai sighed. "I'd be better if it wasn't for this." Mikai moved her head to a bandaged up wound on her upper right arm.

"What happened?"

"Demon fights in America ya know? There's not much room to play." Mikai shrugged her shoulders. "So what's up with you?"

Yusuke sighed. "My Father's a king in the Makai who wishes to see me in about a week that's all."

Mikai's eyes widened. "Which one!?"

"I don't know.." Yusuke thought. "He's name is Raizen I think."

Mikai flinched as if that question had hurt her. She shook her head and looked back at Yusuke. "Really? The one who's going to die soon?"

"Yeah. I've got a shit load of things to tell you so why don't we go and get something to eat?" Yusuke asked with a smile.

"Yeah! I'm starving!" Mikai said happily.

* * *

"So Sensui was killed and the portal to demon world sealed?" Mikai said with a low tone of voice.

"Yeah." Yusuke gripped his fists. "But it wasn't me dammit. I wasn't the one who killed Sensui."

"It was Raizen." Mikai sighed. "Yusuke I'm sorry that I wasn't there to help you."

"Is that why you're so bummed?" Yusuke asked. "Don't worry about that! What's in the past is in the past so relax!"

"Thanks." Mikai smiled.

"So have you seen Kurama?"

Mikai perked up again. "No. I came here originally looking for you, Yusuke."

"Don't make me feel special! Why did you come here looking for me first?" Yusuke laughed. He looked at his friend to see no smile on her face. She didn't even laugh a bit to humor him like she normally would.

"Yusuke…," Mikai said gently. Her voice and look on her face was the same that it was the day she recovered after her fight with Kubo. The same one Yusuke had seen while she was in bed, waiting for Kurama.

"If there's something wrong you can tell me Mikai."

"Spirit World wants you dead. King Yema wants nothing but your death."

"I know," Yusuke said without any concern in his voice.

"Yusuke, Spirit World has put me on a mission to kill you. I'm supposed to assonance you, Hiei, and Kurama."

* * *

R&R please! 


	2. Hope For The Past

I don't own YYH or any of its characters. I only own Mikai.

Second part man. I hope people really like this one and will stick around to read it man. Anyways, enjoy.

* * *

"To WHAT!?" Yusuke yelled.

"Spirit World sent me here to assonance you, Hiei, and Kurama," Mikai repeated.

It grew quiet between the two. Questions ran through both of their mind wondering what the others move would be, and their opinion of the matter.

"So?" Yusuke asked breaking the silence.

"So what?"

"Are you gonna do it?"

"What kill you?"

"Yeah," Yusuke said as he watched her eyes. If she did anything, her eyes would say so first.

"Never!" Mikai smiled. "Because I told King Yema I wouldn't do it, he relived me as my job as a Spirit Detective. Haha! His loss!" Mikai laughed.

"God Mikai you had me worried for a minute." Yusuke laughed.

"You thought I would really do it!?" Mikai yelled. "Yusuke!"

"Sorry!" Yusuke laughed. "I haven't been trusting many people lately."

"Hum." Mikai puffed up her cheeks. "I'm sorry that all of that crap happened to you. So you're going to the Makai?"

"Yeah." Yusuke sighed. "There's nothing really here for me. I've got this horrible urge to fight and yet there's nothing here to put a good fight with ya know?"

"Howlin' at the moon are you Yusuke?" Mikai said gently.

"Yeah," Yusuke said as he leaned back into his chair. "So what are you gonna do now that you're free of Spirit World?"

"Honestly?"

"Yeah."

"I wanna go to the Makai with you."

"WHAT!?" Yusuke fell back in his chair. "Why the hell would you wanna do that!?"

"When I was standing in front of King Yema, one of the three King's walked up and demanded to speak with him. I was asked to leave but the king told me to stay. It was Raizen."

"You saw him!?" Yusuke asked as he leaned forward towards Mikai.

"Yeah. He doesn't look anything like you. He gave off this weird kind of feeling to me though. Just the look in his eyes. He looked so…familiar," Mikai said as she spaced out.

"Mikai!" Yusuke yelled.

"Sorry." Mikai smiled as she stood up. "I'd better go okay? I've gotta find a place to live."

"Kurama told me that you were gonna live with him."

"No!" Mikai said defensively. "That's okay! I don't wanna bug him! But if ya see him, can you tell him that I'm in town?"

"Yeah sure if he doesn't find you first." Yusuke laughed as he stood up. "I'll see you around okay Mikai?"

"I'll see you when you leave for the Makai. Up at Genkai's place right?" Mikai asked with a smile.

"Yeah…," Yusuke said as he blinked. How did she know were to go? Yusuke hadn't told anyone anything yet. She hadn't even been in Japan for more then a few hours and yet she knew.

"See ya!" Mikai raised her arm, waved, and walked out of the small restaurant. Yusuke stood there, dumbfounded. There was something in the back of his mind telling him that something had happened to Mikai in those months that she was gone. Something bad.

* * *

Kurama was in his room, doing what he did best, homework. He was sitting there looking at a blank page with his pencil tapping on the brown desk he was sitting at. His mind was trying to focus on the paper in front of him, but it wouldn't. All his mind wanted to think about was Mikai. It had been six months, and by his calculations, Mikai should have been out of school by now. Where was she?

"Shuu-ani!" Shuuichi said as he walked into his older brother's room.

Kurama smiled; he had always loved it when his brother called him that. "Yes?" he asked as he placed his pencil down.

"There's someone here to see you." Shuuichi moved to the side as Yusuke walked into the room with a bit of a smile on his face.

"Hey there Kur-ah-Shuuichi," Yusuke corrected himself as he looked down at the kid.

"Hello Yusuke." Kurama smiled. "What is it?"

"I'm just stayin' here for a sec okay? I'm just here to tell you that Mikai's back in town okay?"

"What?" Kurama stood up, knocking the chair over behind him.

"Shuu-ani!" Shuuichi said urgently as he ran over to the chair. "Be careful!"

"Where is she?" Kurama asked mentally ignoring his little brother.

"Calm down Kurama! I have no idea where she is right now!" Yusuke said as he threw his arms up in defense. He didn't want to piss off Kurama. After their past mission and seeing what a pissed off Kurama could do, he never wanted to say anything wrong to him.

"You saw her?" Kurama asked urgently.

"Yeah I found her in the park." Yusuke blinked.

"Oh." Kurama looked away. Our promise. He thought.

Yusuke regretted saying that. He sighed and said, "Come on Kurama she was lookin' for you. Look it's pretty early, why don't you go out a look around a bit?"

"Yeah." Kurama perked up a bit. "I'll go out."

"Be careful Shuu-ani," Shuuichi warned.

Kurama smiled. "Thank you Yusuke."

"No prob." Yusuke smiled, but on the inside knew that soon he would be telling Kurama good-bye.

* * *

"Hiei!"

Hiei opened his eyes. He was up in a tree, which was his home for now. He sat forward a bit to see Mikai down below him with a small ball in her hand.

"Hey Hiei!" she said with a smile.

"What?" Hiei hissed.

"I've got a little something for you! Something special form the Makai!" She threw the small ball up into the tree with Hiei.

"Makai?" Hiei hissed as he looked into the small ball.

"Yeah! You're Welcome!" Mikai turned around and began to leave. Hiei watched her as he felt small raindrops fall down onto his head and soon became large drops.

_Who could want me in the Makai?_ Hiei thought as he jumped out of his tree. He lifted the small ball, which Mikai had given him, and threw it against the tree breaking it.

Immediately a man showed up that Hiei could not recognize. His face was bound in bandages, concealing his identity. Hiei watched as the other man informed him of something about going to the Makai.

* * *

Kurama walked through the rain disappointed. He hadn't seen any sign of Mikai around at all. He did notice though, the beings following behind him. To say the least, Kurama was not in the mood to put up any kind of fight.

"Show yourselves!" Kurama growled as he turned around to see three people following him in heavy dress.

"We come here not for a fight but to deliver a message to you," one of the men said as he threw a small glowing ball to Kurama. Kurama caught it and watched as the men disappeared into the rain.

Kurama found a small brown box and sat down on it. He then tossed the ball against the wall in front of him.

A liquid seemed to form out of it, which formed a face that Kurama hadn't seen in many a year. A tall figure with traditional Makai clothing on, six ears sticking out of his head, and both eyes closed.

"Hello Kurama," the man said with a smile. "It's been a long time."

* * *

Kurama crawled back into bed that night with so much on his mind. Would he go to the Makai in order to see what Yomi wanted? Was Hiei going to ally himself with Mukuro? Yusuke was leaving soon, following his own path to the Makai. Would he also?

Kurama rolled over onto his back. He needed someone to talk to. He couldn't keep holding all of his secrets inside of himself even though he had been doing it for fifteen long years.

"Mikai," Kurama whispered into the darkness. "Where are you?"

That was who Kurama really wanted to talk too. He wanted to see her and hear her voice more then anything right now. Maybe talking to her, Kurama thought, would make everything better for him. After all, out of everyone, Mikai would know how he felt.

Kurama rolled over onto his side and covered himself with his blankets. How weird it was to Kurama that children hid under their covers whenever something sacred them in the dark of night. That was one thing that Kurama never did as a child. He knew that there was no such thing as the boogieman or anything. He had seen much worse things in the Makai back when he was Youko Kurama. That was another thing that his past life deprived him of.

Kurama closed his bright green eyes and let the darkness over come him, as he fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

Kurama was standing on a small apartment balcony looking out to the west, looking at the full moon, which was looking back at him. The cool summer air hit him and blow over him, slipping into the open sliding glass door behind him.

"Kurama," Mikai's voice said as a slightly older Mikai walked to Kurama's side. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Kurama responded with a smile.

Mikai stood next to Kurama with a gentle smile on her face. She rested her head on Kurama's shoulder and gave a deep sigh.

"I'm glad it's all over," Mikai said.

"Me too." Kurama said gently. "You'll be twenty in a week."

"I know." Mikai smiled with a small giggle. "And in January..." Mikai placed her hand over her stomach.

Kurama smiled and wrapped his arms around Mikai's stomach and rested his head on Mikai's shoulder.

"I can't wait."

"Me either." Mikai laced her finger with Kurama's. Kurama sigh with content as he felt the ring around his finger hit Mikai's.

* * *

Kurama woke up. The dream. It felt so real to him, maybe only because he wanted it to be real. Kurama looked up at the white ceiling as his heart began to ache. Was Mikai feeling like this right now? Was her heart aching for him like his was? Kurama could only hope so.

He rolled to his side once more, hoping to find sleep once more. But it didn't come for at least another hour. Within that hour many things crossed his mind, causing Kurama to come to the fact that he thought too much.

What if Mikai didn't want to see him? Would it be because he never wrote her during her time of leave? Did she love him like he loved her? Why would she go and see Yusuke first when the two had made a promise that when Mikai came back, she would come and see him first. Did she now hate him for never writing her? Kurama did write and did get a few responses but in the last four months of Mikai being gone, he never got an answer back.

As Kurama pondered these questions, his eyes grew heavier and heavier until he finally fell asleep, without any answers.

* * *

Mikai walked the streets alone as the rain hit her. She knew where she was going by the look on her face. She came to a small alleyway were she stopped to take a breath of cold air, and escape from the rain a bit.

_I really hate sneaking around._ Mikai thought.

A can in the alleyway topped over catching Mikai's attention, but not before two hands reached out form behind her, and pulled her kicking and fighting into the alleyway.

"Crap!" Mikai managed to yell before a hand covered her mouth.

"You're coming back where you belong. Back to the Makai," a voice said against her ear.

Mikai disappeared into the dark alley with the person as the rain fell heavier down onto the ground below. Not one sign of Mikai was left, no sign of her struggling was left, and the only people that had seen her were Yusuke and Hiei. So Mikai disappeared just as the rain had washed everything away.

* * *

R&R please! 


	3. Falling Backwards

I don't own YYH or any of it's characters. I only own Mikai.

Okay here's the third chapter. Thanks to everyone who reviewed! It means a lot to me and helps me write faster. Oh and this will contain spoilers so watch out!

* * *

"So I'm leaving," Yusuke said as he hopped over the railing at Genkai's place. It was time for him to leave a return to the Makai in order to face the man that had taken over his body during the fight with Sensui.

"Don't feel special Urameshi," Hiei said as he stepped out of the darkness. "I also got an invitation to the Makai so I'll be seeing you soon."

"I look forward to it," Yusuke said with his sarcastic smirk.

"I too will be going," Kurama said as he stepped out of the darkness on Yusuke's opposite side.

"Great so we'll all have a family reunion there." Yusuke smiled. Yusuke then looked around Genkai's temple, his eyes failing to see what he wanted to see.

"Hey have any of you seen Mikai? She told me she'd be here," Yusuke asked.

"Mikai hasn't shown up at all," Genkai said with a sigh. "Is she here in Japan?"

"Yeah I saw her," Yusuke answered.

"Even I saw Mikai," Hiei hissed.

"I haven't," Kuwabara said feeling left out once more.

"When?" Kurama asked urgently as he stepped up.

"The day I talked to you," Hiei answered looking at Kurama. "The night it rained."

_I was looking for her that night. Why is it everyone else saw her expect for me?_ Kurama thought.

"You didn't find her?" Yusuke asked.

"No." Kurama looked away. Kurama was hurt deeply. Was Mikai avoiding him? Was everything okay? Was something wrong with Mikai that she didn't want Kurama to be involved with?

Through all of Kurama's thinking, he didn't notice until the last minute that Yusuke was now leaving for three years. He was going to the Makai where Kurama would soon see him.

"I'll see you guys around," Yusuke said with a smile on his face.

"Oh Yusuke." Botan sniffled.

"Take care! I'll see you in three years!" Yusuke jumped into the portal, which was glowing in front of him.

"YUSUKE!" Botan yelled.

Everyone watched as the portal then closed, taking Yusuke with it. Botan wiped her eyes as everyone soon walked away hoping for the best for Yusuke. They hoped that within those three years, Yusuke would still be alive in order to come back.

* * *

"Spirit Gun!!"

A blast of energy shot through a large mountain causing it to crumble into nothing. The blast slowly made its way down the plain until Yusuke could see it no more.

"Damn." Yusuke fell to his knees. He was so tried of training day in and day out. But this was what Yusuke wanted.

He had met the man who had taken over his body. Raizen. He claimed to be Yusuke's "father" in a long line sense. Yusuke didn't want to think of his as a father but right now Yusuke didn't care. He just wanted to kill him and get it done and over with.

"Urameshi-san."

Yusuke turned around to see one of Hokushin behind him.

"What do you want now?" Yusuke asked already irritated.

"Raizen-sama wishes to have a word with you. Come this way." Hokushin walked, and Yusuke followed.

Yusuke walked to Raizen's green entry doors. Hokushin backed down, and Yusuke opened the door.

"It's about time Yusuke," Raizen said with the same smirk Yusuke always smiled.

"What do you want? I'm not ready to kill you yet," Yusuke hissed.

Raizen closed his eyes. "It's your friend Yusuke. She's in trouble."

"She?" Yusuke raised an eyebrow. "Who?"

"Mikai is that her name? Yes she's very much in danger right now."

"What!?" Yusuke ran forward towards Raizen only to be shot back by Raizen lifting his finger. Yusuke smacked the wall behind him; he grunted and began to stand back up.

"I'm really starting to hate that attack." Yusuke groaned as he held his stomach. "Now what about Mikai?"

"She's in danger." Raizen stood up and walked over to a small opening in his little hut. "She was Senkai wasn't she?"

"Yeah so?"

"I met her once. During a demon raid I was involved with. She was so young, must have gotten separated from Youko Kurama's little gang of bandits. The hut she was in was on fire and yet there she stood with a fallen comrade. I felt so bad for her, seeing how she was so small and all. She hadn't even grown her second tail yet."

"Get to the point!" Yusuke yelled.

"For some reason I felt this need to help her. So I gave her some of my power. Poor child, I thought I had killed her. After that, I heard that she had found her way back to her bandit group."

_Is that why Mikai's power seems to rival mine so much?_ Yusuke asked himself. _Because our power generates from the same person?_

Yusuke grew a bit irritated, wondering wither Mikai was really hurt or not bouncing around in head was starting to drive him crazy.

"Just answer me this Raizen, is Mikai hurt at all?"

"Honestly Yusuke, yes." Raizen smiled, knowing that Yusuke was now going to fume with anger.

"Where is she!?" Yusuke yelled stepping closer to Raizen once more.

"Somewhere here in the Makai," Raizen answered gently. "But where I do not know."

"Dammit!" Yusuke threw his fists down in anger.

Raizen turned back around and looked at his young heir. He could see the anger and pain behind his eyes. He could see how powerful a little emotion like friendship could power a person forward. Or was it another emotion also?

"Tell me Yusuke, how much do you like the young Mikai?" Raizen asked.

Yusuke sensed where Raizen was going and managed to smiled. "It's not like that. She's like my sister."

Raizen smiled. "Make sure to pass down my genes wisely."

"Don't worry," Yusuke hissed as he turned away. "I'll be sure to remember that the next time a girl hits on me."

Raizen laughed a bit. "You're like me in more ways then one."

"Hey don't give me another reason to hate myself okay?" Yusuke said as he walked out of the king's room, and back to the area where he was training before.

* * *

Hiei ran through the streets of the Ningenkai as fast as his legs could carry him. He was on a mission to get to a small wooded area in order to get to the Makai so he could meet up with Mukuro. He ran past women on the streets, his wind causing their dresses to fly up a bit.

_May as well cause a bit of trouble while I'm still here._ Hiei thought to himself.

He ran until he reached a hill, it was then that he stopped and looked up the grassy field. Was he really ready to go home? He would be leaving Yukina behind with the idiot, and possibly even battling Kurama in the Makai. As Hiei thought everything over, a thought came over him. There in the Makai, he would never have to fight for anyone ever again. He'd live for himself, and no one else. Was that everything that Hiei truly wanted?

"Questioning yourself Hiei?"

Hiei turned to his side to see Kurama walking over to him with his hands buried deep within his pockets.

"What do you want fox?" Hiei hissed.

"To simply wish you good bye."

"I'll see you in the Makai," Kurama said with a low tone.

"I'll be waiting." Hiei began to walk up the hill.

"Do me a favor."

"What?" Hiei hissed as he turned back around. "I'm not going to look for that Mikai girl again for you."

"That's not what I want." Kurama shook his head. "Watch yourself Hiei."

"I wouldn't worry about me if I were you." Hiei laughed a bit.

"Are you really leaving Yukina? I remember that you spent so much time looking for her, so are you going to let her go this easily?"

"You can't let go something you never had." Hiei growled as he walked up the hill, not saying another word to the kitsune.

"True Hiei," Kurama whispered as a wind blew pushing Hiei up the hill a bit. "Good luck."

Hiei walked up the hill, a bit angry now to know that Kurama had looked a bit into his thoughts. As he reached the top of the hill, he saw the portal was already open, and Yukina standing in front of it with something in her hands.

"Yukina.."., Hiei said breathlessly.

* * *

White roses flooded the room Kurama stood in with his Mother, new stepfather, and now legal stepbrother.

"I do," a dress in white Shiori said with a smile.

"I do," a man in a black tuxedo, and a nervous look on his face said.

"Shiori Minamino and Kazuyu Hatanaka, I now pronounce you husband and wife," the old preacher said as he bowed down. "You may kiss the bride."

As Shiori and Kazuyu kissed, the guests cheered. Kurama clapped along with his younger brother, and Kuwabara who was by Kurama's side the whole time. As the new couple separated, they walked down the aisle hand in hand smiling.

* * *

"Are you happy?" Shiroi asked her son at the small reception. "I mean with everything?"

"Perfectly," Kurama said with a gentle smile.

"That's good." Shiori sighed. "If only Mikai had come back in time. I would have really liked to have a bride's maid."

"I would...have liked to have seen it too," Kurama said forcing himself to smile even though inside it hurt.

"I'm so proud of you Shuuichi. You'll make an excellent older brother, and you'll even be out of High School soon." Shiroi gently petted Kurama's head. "You have no idea how much I love you."

Kurama gently smiled back. "I love you too Mother." Kurama watched as his Mother walked away from him, and Kuwabara walked over.

"You doin' okay Kurama?" he asked.

"Shuuichi." Kurama laughed slightly. "But yes I'm doing okay."

"I'm really gonna miss all of you guys when you're all in the Makai," Kuwabara said with a sigh.

"Well I'm hoping I'll be back before anyone else. It's Yusuke that's insistent on stay there for three years."

"Yeah I know," Kuwabara said in a sad tone. "Stupid Urameshi, he's just like Mikai, never contacting anyone once they're gone, always breakin' promises and stuff."

Kurama looked away. "They are alike aren't they?"

"Yeah. Sometimes they act like brother and sister. Both have family issues, both have untapped power within them."

"Tell me something Kuwabara," Kurama said as he turned around to the orange haired boy. "Did Yusuke tell you anything about Mikai and I's relationship?"

"Well he told me that you two were in love and all and that you made a promise with her that she would come and see you first when she got back from America. I mean I was there Shuuichi, when she gave you what was left of her life energy before you died. That kinda shows me how much you care for each other."

"Was everything that obvious?" Kurama asked.

"Yeah." Kuwabara sighed. "How are you though, on the subject of Mikai?"

"It's been about three months since Yusuke left for the Makai, and the last thing I ever heard about Mikai went with him. I haven't seen her, or gotten a letter or anything. I've got this feeling inside of me, telling me that she's no longer here in Japan."

"Well Shuuichi, Mikai's not the kind of person to just up and forget someone like that. Something must be up with her, good or bad."

Kurama looked up at Kuwabara and gave him a smile of comfort. "Thank you Kuwabara. I'll miss you."

"Me too." Kuwabara smiled back.

* * *

R&R please! 


	4. Meaningful Secerts

I don't own YYH or any of it's characters. I only own Mikai.

Okay this chapter has major spoilers and does mention something of sex so just skip that part okay? It's just a little mention of it so hang tight. This chapters really long and was a pain since I had to wait forever to see this episode. Anyways read and enjoy

* * *

So much had happened in Kurama's life in the past few months. His Mother and Father were off on their honeymoon and while he was at not at home like his family thought, but in the Makai. He had to repay his debt to Yomi. Kurama had been forced to go.

He stood there, atop a small cliff, looking over the Makai, which he once called home. He hadn't gotten a good view like this for one thousand years. He remembered his few seconds here, in the Makai, when he was battling Sensui. But then he barely had any time to stop and enjoy the sights.

As he began to walk, so many things ran through his mind. Why did Yomi want him to come to the Makai so urgently? Was he hiding something from him? He had to be, there was no other reason that Yomi would call the reincarnated Kurama back to his homeland.

All of Kurama's thoughts were broken as three armed warriors appeared before him, running towards him with their knifes drawn. Kurama attacked, using his plants of course, killing each one without an issue.

"Yomi, I know you're here," Kurama hissed.

Yomi appeared from the bushes beside the red head with a smug look about him. There was, though, a smile written across his face. "I'm glad you've accepted my invitation Kurama," he said gently.

"Why have you invited me here? This is the kind of greeting you send?" Kurama asked now very irritated.

"I just wanted to see if you were strong enough to be among me," Yomi said as the smile stayed on his face.

"So you were testing me?" Kurama asked. As Kurama studied Yomi, he discovered something about him. He seemed so calm, not like he once was a thousand years ago.

"You've changed," Kurama accused.

"I can say the same for you."

"Sir!" a short demon said as he ran over to the two and stood by Yomi's side. "It's time for your meeting with your military commanders regarding the unification of the Makai."

"Very well Yoda." Yomi sighed. "Kurama, come."

Yoda looked on at Kurama in disgust. His ki level was so short that he dare not waste any of his breath on him. The three of them walked onto the destination where Kurama had been heading to, Gandara.

* * *

Kurama had been in Yomi's little meeting of generals, Yomi sometimes asking him for his own opinions on how he should move his own army out to fight Raizen and Mukuro. Kurama being there did anger a few of Yomi's generals who did not agree with the way Kurama thought, or didn't like the fact that his ki level was so low. Now that the meeting was over, the two were walking down a hallway, Yomi promising Kurama something that would convince him to help him in his little war.

"I think Shachi is planning to kill you," Yomi said in reference to one of his generals who had shot a death glare at the red head.

"How can you tell?" Kurama asked confused by the fact that Yomi was now blinded and that he could see.

"After being blinded, I've become much stronger," Yomi explained as they continued to walk down the corridor. "Although unable to see, I can sense many things: temperature, pressure, one's state of mind, the mood in a certain environment. Kurama, I can guess what will happen in six months from now." Yomi smiled. "Yusuke Urameshi has been training to become the new leader of Raizen's army. I've been informed that your partner Hiei, who has gone to Mukuro, has increased his powers remarkably in a short period of time. Do you believe that in six months Yusuke, Hiei and you will become seconds-in-command to your kings? The key elements in each of the three armies?"

Kurama stood there looking on at the blind man, not giving an answer.

"By the way there's someone I want you to meet," Yomi said as the idea hit him once more. "Come."

Yomi led Kurama down to a large underground cell, which was closed off, from the rest of the world with heavy doors.

"He took me forever to catch, but I caught him. The demon that blinded me that is."

Kurama twitched, hearing those words and looked away. Yomi felt Kurama's hesitation and smiled to himself.

"What's wrong? Why don't you take a look?" Yomi asked almost mocking the red head.

All of the doors opened, and showed the horrible condition in which the demon was in. both of his hands were bound to the wall, as Yomi's facial expression changed once more, to a more devilish smile.

"He's starting to decompose," Yomi said as he walked over to the assassin, causing him to wake.

"Please kill…me…," the demon begged. "The…pain…it hurts."

"You've suffered enough." Yomi sighed. "But do tell me one thing, who sent you out to kill me?"

"It was…," the demon began. "He...has...sliver hair...and is ruthless…his name is Youko Kurama."

With the end of the demon's sentence, Yomi slammed his foot down onto the assassin's head, smashing it all over the place.

Yomi turned to Kurama only to see that he was clam and cool, just as Yomi expected. "Kurama, you might not believe it, but I understand. I admit, I was stupid, sacrificed too many of our men. Had our positions been inverted, I'd have done the same and killed you without hesitation."

"What is it that you want?" Kurama asked.

"I merely want you to join me and be my second-in-command. I need your strength. In the past, despite my stupidity, I was useful to you somehow. I need your help to unify Makai. I want my dream to come true," Yomi said as if he were lecturing a child about his future dreams.

"And if I say no?"

Yomi paused for a minute and then commented casually, "The human you love is flying on a plane right now. We wouldn't want that place to crash would we?"

"You wouldn't you bastard," Kurama asked urgently, now a bit shaken.

Yomi smirked. "I know all about you and your reincarnation. I know about your Mother, your past fights, everything. You're the one who taught me all of this, aren't you proud of me? I've learned."

"You've learned so much over this time," Kurama said in embarrassment.

"I've impressed you?" Yomi said with a bit of pride in his voice. "Well I may have something else for you that impresses you even more."

A red flag shot up in Kurama's red. What could it be. He already had his Mother hostage in away could he possibly have Shuuichi as well?

"What is it?" Kurama hissed.

"All will be revealed in time," Yomi said calmly.

"Now Yomi you wouldn't want me to be distracted while I'm training, wondering about what it is you may have," Kurama said, hoping to get Yomi to fall into his trap.

"You win." Yomi sighed.

The wall behind Yomi rose slowly as Yomi spoke. "I've taken back that which was once mine. The treasure I had in the first place before the bandit Youko Kurama came into the picture."

The wall fully rose, and Kurama's green eyes widened. Mikai's body was pinned up on the wall with plants surrounding her on all sides. A few of the plants had dug their way under the skin in her arms and were pumping something into her.

"Mikai!" Kurama said as he stepped forward. "Let her go!"

"Not until she's fully healed."

"Fully healed?" Kurama repeated.

"Yes she was wounded in a training battle that I had set up for her."

Kurama looked back at Mikai and the plant and recognized it. He had used it many times to heal himself during his past fights. He had only been forced to use it when he was hurt in extreme cases.

"I caught her running around in the Ningenkai," Yomi said with another sigh.

"Why did you take her?" Kurama growled.

"She'll make a great ally to our side. Not to mention she does belong to me."

"What?" Kurama asked not believing what he was saying.

"Don't you remember? I was the one who first took Senkai from her home, promising that she would grow rich running the thieves that Youko Kurama ruled. But in reality, I wanted her for her beauty and innocence. She was so small, not even having grown her second tail yet. Within the time she spent in the group, I fell in love with her, and asked her to be mine and only mine. We became engaged."

"Senkai…," Kurama said as he looked back up at Mikai's torn body.

"As soon as I thought she was old enough to steal with the group, she did a wonderful job. She was out to protect the gang and even risked for life for me a few times. But everything ended the night that she protected you. After that she began to see my flaws, and all of your little attributes filled her mind. But I did do one thing before she left me for you, I stole her innocence."

Kurama's eyes widened a bit and then turned cold once more. "By force?"

"It doesn't really matter now does it? Everything was fine until the day I became blinded. After waiting for you forever, I soon discovered that you had run off with the young Senkai. Maybe hoping to raise her to be a thief worth having around Kurama? But then again it wasn't a long-lived lesson was it? She had soon disappeared, correct? Then you were killed."

"Everything you want her for now is to help in the fight correct? Or is there another motive?" Kurama hissed, feeling as if Yomi had something else in mind.

"Kurama, this war can cause me to make choices which I've only seen in my nightmares, but right now all that matters is that we win. By any means if necessary." Yomi sighed.

Kurama's eyes traveled back up to Mikai. Her chest was moving up and down, showing that she was still breathing enough to keep herself alive. Her small hands twitched once in awhile causing Kurama's hopes to go up that she would awaken soon.

"Tell me," Kurama said in a low tone. "How much does Mikai remember of Senkai's past?"

Yomi held up a small blue ball. "None. When I captured her I took all of Senkai's memories form Mikai's body and placed them in here, all locked away. They will kept hidden from her for now because of her weak state of mind do to the fight."

Kurama slanted his eyes. There was another motive. If Yomi was keeping Senkai's memories hidden, was Senkai hiding something? What was there that he wanted hidden?

"So Kurama, you want to see your room now or later?" Yomi said with a smile across his face.

"Now," Kurama said hating himself for now working with the demon.

So much was now riding on Kurama's every decision. Mikai's well being and past, his Mother's life, and now with this war set in front of him, every moment mattered. He had to find a way to get through this all and still come out of this with everyone still intact.

* * *

Yomi came back to the cell after he had shown Kurama his room and made sure that he was settled in. He looked at Mikai's body as her brown eyes opened slowly.

"So you're awake?" Yomi asked gently feeling her mind set awaken once more.

"I don't feel any better." Mikai coughed.

"Oh you will." Yomi smiled.

Mikai felt the plants around her release her. She jumped down to the floor, catching herself gracefully. She felt her stomach burn, and she fell onto her knees.

"It's still there." Mikai groaned as she fell over, holding her stomach. "It...it won't leave."

"Trust me it will," Yomi said as he kneeled down to Mikai's level and picked up her face.

Mikai looked at the place were Yomi's eyes once were. All they were now were closed blinds to the rest of the world. As she looked on, something caught her attention. In the room somewhere, was the faint sent of Kurama.

_Kurama?_ Mikai asked herself. _He's here. I have to find him. _

"You're well enough to retire to your room," Yomi said, breaking all of Mikai's thoughts.

"I think I'll bathe first. I need a change of clothing." Mikai sighed as she looked up at the blinded demon.

"Head down to the hidden lake west of here. I'll have someone bring you, your clothing," Yomi said as he stood back up. "Be careful out there. I can't have you dying now."

"Yes...Yomi-sama." Mikai bit her tongue. Using suffixes wasn't something she was used to.

* * *

The large lake was hidden away from everyone else. It was Yomi's small place were he could recover from his training without being bothered. The water was crystal blue, but yet somehow a bit murky at the bottom. Small trees, which looked like Weeping Willows, hung from the sides casting a small shadow over the lake.

Kurama had discovered the past by mistake as he walked along Yomi's kingdom boundaries. It gave him an eerie feeling as he walked over to the lake and let one of his hands touch the water. He watched ripples form, and travel away from him, making him feel content somewhere in his heart.

He knew that he had to leave soon. He would have to recruit the demons that he had met during the Dark Tournament. He also had intentions of finishing up some of his lose family ties before he came back to Yomi. He had to come back now, Yomi had Mikai and that was another thing he had to protect with his heart.

Every feeling inside of him broke as he heard footsteps come from behind him, gentle small steps. Kurama turned around quickly, ready to fight only to see Mikai's shocked face.

"Mikai?" Kurama asked hoping that his eyes weren't telling lies.

"Kurama?" Mikai asked back as she dropped her towels on the floor.

The two stood there, hoping that everything they saw was true. Maybe they didn't want to take the chance of having their hearts broken if everything was just an illusion, maybe they both wanted to deny the fact the other was there. But soon, both ran to each other, and embraced.

"Kurama!" Mikai said as she dug her head into the red head's neck and her fingers ran through his red locks, maybe wanting to make sure he was there, or to not let go if he was an illusion.

"You're okay…," Kurama said as he held Mikai close. "You're okay.."

* * *

"That's what he wants me for?" Mikai asked gently.

"As far as I know yes," Kurama answered back.

Mikai was insistent on taking a bath, saying that she hated the way that plant Yomi had used on her made her feel afterwards. She was now in the water washing herself with a small bar of some kind of demon fat that Yomi had given her.

Kurama, of course, was sitting on the riverbank turned away from the young lady. At first there was a sight blush on his face from thinking about Mikai naked behind him but it soon faded as they began to talk about Yomi and the war.

"Have you heard anything about Yusuke?" Mikai asked followed by a splash.

"He's with Raizen in his kingdom."

"Raizen…," Mikai said in a low tone. "He's not going to last much longer. A pity."

Kurama almost turned around but stopped. "You talk as if you know him."

"Senkai did." Kurama heard Mikai stop moving. "You've never seen Senkai's full power in this life time, or mine Kurama. Raizen is the reason for all of my powers. Do you think...when Raizen dies...my power will leave?"

"No," Kurama answered. "You're powers now are based off of what Raizen gave you. You know have your own powers on your own levels." Kurama paused until a thought passed over him. "How did you remember? Yomi told me he took all of Senkai's memories from you."

"Hey," Mikai said as she wrapped her wet arms around Kurama's neck from behind. "I'll show you."

Kurama blushed to think that maybe Mikai was naked behind him. he wanted to turn around and face her, but that would betray everything that he had been taught since childhood. Instead Mikai walked in front of Kurama, and Kurama saw that she was fully dressed in her old clothing.

"Stand up," Mikai said gently.

Kurama did as told. He watched as Mikai walked over to him nose to nose. She reached to his sides and grabbed his hands.

"We can't let anyone see this," Mikai whispered.

"See what?" Kurama asked wondering if she was talking about them two or something else.

"This."

Kurama felt a small round object fall into his hands. As his eyes traveled down to it Mikai turned around quickly to hide it.

"Kameda," she said with a slight laugh.

Kurama looked up, over Mikai's shortness, and saw Yomi's servant, Kameda standing there with a stoic look about him.

"What are you two doing out here?" Kameda asked.

"I was just bathing," Mikai said quickly.

"I was out training when I came across her," Kurama lied.

"I'm here to give you your new clothes Mikai," Kameda said as he walked over to her with a bundle of traditional Makai clothes in his hands. "I expect to see you back soon." He warned as he walked away.

"Tell Yomi-sama I'll be in soon!" Mikai yelled.

The two of them waited until Kameda was out of sight. Mikai waited a few more minutes before she turned back around to Kurama.

"Look at it," she whispered.

Kurama looked down into his hands, at the round object that he was hiding. It was the same small, blue ball that Yomi had shown him earlier, the one that held Senkai's memories.

Bewildered, Kurama looked back up at Mikai. "How did you get this?"

"That's one problem with Yomi, he makes copies of everything and can't keep track of them. I still am a bandit ya know," Mikai said with a smile.

Kurama smiled. As his smile slowly faded, he reached down and pressed his lips against Mikai's gently. Mikai blushed slightly, and pushed her mouth against Kurama's back. The two stayed like that for awhile, Kurama wanting to pull Mikai to him, but couldn't because of the blue ball between the two, and Mikai wanting never to move wither the war was coming or not.

But ever so slowly, Kurama pulled away from Mikai, knowing that something had to be done about Senkai's memories. Once his face was completely parted from Mikai's, he smiled to see the blush on her face heavy.

"Anyway," Mikai said as she walked away from the red head. "I need your help."

"Anything," Kurama said as he watched Mikai step back into the water. He blinked in confusion a few times as she turned to him.

"I need you to come in here with me," she asked.

Kurama walked into the water, feeling how cold it was. How Mikai could have taken a bath in this was beyond him, but he walked in it until he was knee high and next to Mikai.

"Yomi comes here because the waters here are able to replenish Spirit Energy quickly. It heals minor wounds also," Mikai said as she looked back up at Kurama. "I'll need all of the energy I can muster. Kurama, right now you and I don't have nearly enough Spirit Energy to do what we have to do, so that's why I brought you here."

"Mikai what do you need me to do that requires so much energy?" Kurama asked as he reached down to her sides and grabbed her hand.

"To open the ball and restore all of Senkai's memories into me, I need someone who was there. Someone like Youko Kurama," Mikai said as she looked into Kurama's green eyes. "I need you to turn into Youko...Kurama...please?"

Kurama hesitated for a minute. Thinking about it was really wise to do this in an area so open like this. He, personally, didn't want to turn back into the silver haired demon do to all of the emotional stress it placed on him but then again, doing all of this was for Mikai, and there might be something in her past that would help for or against Yomi.

"Okay," Kurama said gently. "I will."

* * *

R&R please! 


	5. Promise

I don't own YYH or any of it's characters. I only own Mikai.

Okay this chapter might be a bit confusing so here, when you see this: **oooooo** That means that a flashback has begun and until you see it once more, the flashback isn't over okay? Oh and this chapter has some spoilers and mentions of sex so skip over those parts if ya don't wanna read them okay? Enjoy and thanks for reading and reviewing!

* * *

"So did you find them?" Yomi asked as he felt Kameda walk into the room.

"They were both at the Healing Lake just as you said Yomi-sama," Kameda replied as he bowed.

"And what were they doing?"

"Standing next to each other. Sir it looked as if they were going to kiss."

"Just as I thought." Yomi smiled. "Leave them be just make sure that they're both in before the next little thunderstorm."

"Yes." Kameda bowed as he slowly stepped out of the room.

"Everything's falling into plan Kurama," Yomi said as he looked outside of his window. "Let's just see what you'll do."

* * *

Kurama gently stepped away from Mikai, causing the water around him to ripple. He looked gently into Mikai's eyes as a small white mist covered his body, rising above it. Mikai watched as in a few minutes, the mist dissipated, and there stood Youko Kurama.

His sliver hair was moving gently in the air, the light breeze that there was. Shuuichi's gentle green eyes were now gone and replaced by cold emotionless eyes, which were looking directly at Mikai. He walked over to Mikai, moving the water much more then Shuuichi did.

"Give me the ball," Youko said. Mikai did as told and looked back up at him. He was so much taller then her. Him being seven feet tall and she only being five three.

Mikai gathered Spirit Energy within her hands and looked up at Youko. "Put your hands out." Youko did as told. "Place some of your energy in your hands."

"How much?"

"You'll know." Mikai closed her eyes.

As the two gathered their power to their hands, the blue ball began to float a bit. A small, white light grew around it, and it began to open, showing small liquid inside.

"That's it!" Mikai said. "More!"

The two pushed as much as they could, while the waters around them flowed into their bodies their energy was replenished, and they pushed out more into their hands.

Both of their bodies were growing tired, after pushing for ten minutes, got getting very far. Mikai grew a bit irritated, while Youko remained cool and calm. Then, all of a sudden, the ball broke open; it's liquid spilling everywhere, and all slipping itself into Mikai's mouth.

"Damn." Mikai choked as she held her throat. She felt the liquid burn her throat as it traveled down, leaving it's bitter taste in her mouth. She felt it all hit her stomach and splash around violently. But suddenly, everything became black, and nothing was left, but darkness.

"Mikai?" Youko asked as he bent over to her. He watched as her body began to fall into the water. His reaction was quick; reaching down to grab her before she hit the water. "Mikai?" he asked as he shook her body.

_The memory stress must be getting to her._ Youko thought as he walked back to the bank of the lake and laid her down. He sat down next to her, hoping she would awaken soon with answers.

Youko's cold eyes looked down at Mikai in wonder. Why Kurama liked her so much was beyond him even though she did tend to look like Senkai once in awhile. He saw a small piece of her brown hair in her face. It was getting rather annoying so he reached down and moved it out of the way. The minute he touched her, darkness covered his mind, as he saw everything that Mikai was now viewing.

**oooooo**

Youko Kurama was walking in front of a small pack of bandits, each dressed like him. They seemed to be on their way somewhere as Senkai stayed close to Yomi.

"Yomi," Youko Kurama said as he stopped. "I want you to move out and attack that village." Youko pointed to a small village below with a few other demons running around it stupidly.

"Why?" Yomi asked as he stepped forward. "There's nothing down there worth having."

"Don't ask just go. Our small troupe needs food," Youko Kurama hissed back.

Yomi and his small group including Senkai began to run down the small hill they were on which overlooked the village, towards the nearest hut.

"Senkai," Youko called.

"Yes sir?" she asked as she turned around.

"Be careful." Youko closed his eyes. "The rest of us will be back here, waiting."

"Yes sir!" Senkai said as she turned around and then followed the rest of her group, behind Yomi.

"Yomi!" Senkai whispered as she caught up to her leader. "We'd better sneak in and find the food first."

"No let's just go," Yomi said as he looked around, watching the villagers.

"But Yomi, what if they take the food?" Senkai whispered a bit harder now trying to convince her fiancée what to do.

"Don't start acting like Youko," Yomi hissed not really paying too much attention to Senkai, but rather watching the villagers walked by, planning his attack. "Now!"

Senkai watched as Yomi spring out from the bush, and began to chop down villagers. Senkai started out late, but soon joined everyone else as she searched for a food source. She ran by a small hut in the middle of the town and spotted food in it.

_That's it!_ She thought as she ran to it only to have a demon jump out in front of her.

_Damn! _

Senkai jumped backwards as the demon slashed his katana at her, just barely cutting the ends off of her hair. She stood up quickly and dodged more of the demon's attacks until one landed right in her right side.

"Crap," she muttered as she fell over, holding her bleeding side. She looked up to see the demon lifting his katana above his head.

_Shit._ Senkai thought as she watched it come down, timed it, and rolled to the side the pain shooting up her sides. She got to her feet and looked around. She couldn't fight the demon, Yomi was nowhere in sight, and she couldn't go back to the group because it would give away their position.

Senkai kneeled onto the floor as she watched the demon come near her. She touched it, spreading her fingers on the dirt floor gently. She pushed her Spirit energy down into the ground and yelled, "Earth Spirit Rise!"

The demon watched as the ground around him rose up, one spike of dirt pierced his body, going through his chest, killing him. Spikes of Earth rose up around everywhere, killing demons the rest of her troupe were fighting.

"There," she said breathlessly. "H-Hurry up.." Senkai's wounded body then fell onto the floor beneath her and crimson red blood fell out of her side, staining the dirt beneath her.

* * *

Senkai awoke to the smell of burning meat. Her nose twitched as she sat up, not feeling any pain from her wounds. She looked down to see that they were all healed and patched up. She stood up and walked over to the fire which all of her comrades were sitting next to.

"Hey look weaklings up," one of them said with a laugh.

"Screw off." Senkai sat down near the fire. She looked around for her share of food and saw nothing. She glared back up at everyone.

"Sorry!" another one said. "Thought you wouldn't be awake enough to eat."

Senkai stood up and walked away from the fire. She had so many questions running through her mind. She felt hatred in her heart, but attachment in her mind. Ideas ran through her head, telling her to go but to stay because she had nowhere else to go.

She walked over to a small cliff that was overlooking an empty plain. The area they were in was now dark, night perhaps, or maybe just another storm. Senkai sat down at the edge of the cliff, closed her eyes, and sighed. She felt something heavy fall into her lap and her eyes flew open. It was a small red ball.

"It's a moonlight apple," Youko Kurama's voice said form beside Senkai. "The nutritions in it will keep you full for a week."

"Thanks." Senkai sighed once more as she bit into it. "And thanks for healing me."

"Did you learn your lesson?"

"From now on it's me and me only. No one else is going to fight for me." Senkai looked up at Youko Kurama, only to now see him behind her. She titled her head backward to look at him. "I want something else Youko. Not this."

Youko Kurama walked over to the small kitsune, bent down, and gently locked his lips with hers. Senkai's eyes widened a bit at first, but then closed as she too fell into her leader's kiss.

* * *

"I don't know how you put up with her Yomi," one of Youko's generals said as he poked the fire with a stick, hoping to revive it. "She's such a little baby sometimes."

"But can you blame her? I mean first off she's a woman, _and_ she's only a few years old. I mean no second tail?" Another one laughed.

"Senkai has her reasons for being here," Yomi said as he took a bite of bread that he had found.

"And what are those _reasons_?" a general sitting to Yomi's left said as he hit Yomi in his side as he rose his eyebrows.

"Not yet." Yomi smiled. "When the time comes."

"If it does." Another laughed out loud.

* * *

"Trust me," Youko Kurama said as he laced his fingers with Senkai's. "Everything will work out, nothing will go wrong."

Senkai was beneath Youko, he was being as careful as he could so as not to crush her under his weight. Youko began to kiss Senkai's neck gently, as she blushed heavily.

"Promise?" Senkai said as she grit her teeth to stop a groan from escaping her mouth.

"I promise," Youko Kurama said as his mouth traveled back up to hers and their lips locked. He pulled his mouth away after a quick kiss, then went back to attending to her neck.

Could she really do this and break her promise that she had made to Yomi the night that they became engaged? Was Youko Kurama worth everything that she had to lose? What did she have to lose anyway? Was all of this fair? Was she going to give into the feelings and the hormones that were running through her right then, telling her to go for it? Was Youko in this just to get with her, or to acutely tell her something that he had been hiding for a long time now?

"Don't," Senkai said as she gave into her mind battle that she had been having for the past few seconds. "I…I can't," she confessed.

"Why not?" Youko asked as he sat back up a bit so he could look into her eyes.

Senkai looked away and moved her fingers a bit. Youko then saw what she met when his ring finger hit hers only to feel a small metal object. Moved his hand a bit more, slipping the ring off.

"No." Senkai sat up. "I can't."

"Do you love him?" Youko Kurama asked as he backed off a bit from the younger kitsune.

"I don't know." Senkai sighed.

Youko Kurama reached over to the small ring, picked it up and gave it back to her. "A ring doesn't mean anything unless you love him." Youko then stood up and held his hand out to Senkai. She took it, and stood up.

"Something's going to happen soon," Youko confided. "When it does, promise to come with me no matter what."

Senkai thought about it for a second and figured that if anything bad did happen, it would be best for her to _be_ with Youko. Maybe it was the only way that she would be able to live for a while or until she perfected her thieving skills.

"I promise."

* * *

"Yomi," Senkai groaned as she felt her back form a spot on a small bed that her and Yomi had always shared. She felt her lips lock with his once more as Yomi grabbed her legs and wrapped them around him.

"Yomi, I-I," Senkai began before Yomi's lips cut her off once more.

"What's wrong?" Yomi asked as he pulled his mouth away and looked down at her.

"I don't know if I can do this," Senkai confessed as she looked to the side.

"You have to," Yomi said as he began to kiss Senkai's neck. "You do belong to me after all."

Senkai closed her eyes, letting Yomi do whatever he wanted. With every touch, she thought of Youko Kurama. She now hated herself for pushing Youko away the other night. More then ever she wanted him right now. Her emotions were now getting the better of her, telling her to do this with Yomi because she was supposed to and he was going to help her and Seme one day. Other emotions told her that he wasn't worth it and he didn't deserve her. As everything ran through her, only one set of words ran through her head.

"Please stop," Senkai mumbled.

"What?" Yomi asked as he slipped his shirt off and looked down at the kitsune.

"I can't do this," Senkai admitted as she looked away.

Yomi placed his arms near Senkai's head and looked down at her, straight into her blue eyes.

"Remember who you belong to," he hissed as he went back to kissing Senkai's neck.

"Don't," Senkai hissed as she tried to push Yomi away only to feel him grab her wrists and hold them down. "Don't…," Senkai whispered knowing no one would come to help her. Youko Kurama was out for the night on a midnight thieving run, he wouldn't be back for two more days.

Through out the night, sounds were heard coming from the little hut that hid Yomi and Senkai, but no one thought it as anything. They figured that's what lovers do right? So no one came in, or even checked on the female kitsune the next morning when she was nowhere to be found. Not even at mealtimes, was she seen.

* * *

"Ready?" Youko Kurama asked Senkai as they stood near the castle were Yomi was soon to "lose his light" as he would put it. They looked on, knowing fully what would be happening in there soon, but the both of them had no regrets.

"Ready," Senkai said coldly as she looked at the castle.

"Let's go." Youko turned his back the castle, and began to run with Senkai trailing right behind him.

**oooooooo**

Kurama opened his eyes, back on the bank of the lake with Mikai resting next to him. He shook his head, trying to remember every little thing that had just happened.

_What could have been so important?_ Kurama thought. _Senkai. Is she Yomi's true weakness? Yes...maybe._

Mikai sat up shaking her head back and forth. She rubbed her head a bit until she looked back at Kurama.

"Did you get all of that?" Mikai asked playfully as she looked at the red head.

"Somewhat." Kurama smiled.

"It was about three hundred years after that, that Senkai was killed. Then Youko right?" Mikai asked, hoping it didn't bother Kurama to ask that.

"I believe so," Kurama said while he tried to figure everything out. Then, the promise he had made Yomi filled his head once more. He stood up and looked at Mikai.

"Mikai, I have to go to the Ningenkai."

"Why?" Mikai asked standing up quickly. "Are you really leaving me?"

"I have to go and recruit people form the Dark Tournament to be on Yomi's army. I'll be gone for a while but I promise that I'll be back," Kurama said as he walked over to her and grabbed her hands.

"You promise?" Mikai asked as she blushed.

"Promise." Kurama's grip on Mikai's hand increased a bit. He hoped that he would be able to come back, and save all three worlds, his family, his friends, and Mikai.

* * *

R&R please! 


	6. Promise Breaker

I don't own YYH or any of it's characters. I only own Mikai, Shinka and Yuzu okay?

Chapter 6…finally. Okay please read and enjoy. Watch out for spoilers and such. Now there is a bit of sex mentioned at the end of this, and I'm not going to write a lemon because I'm all paranoid about losing my account which has happened to me before. If I do write one I'll post it on and link it all. So if that was on your mind sorry.

* * *

Kurama was now back in the Ningenkai. He was acting like everything was normal when he knew that all of his worlds were falling apart. He was sitting there in school, wondering how he was putting up with it like he was. Still somehow, he managed to get the top score even though he knew that he had messed up on so many answers.

"So Shuuichi, top score again?" Kaitou asked as he walked over to the red head's desk.

"Oh what?" Kurama asked as he looked back up at his peer.

"What's wrong with you Shuuichi? Are you guys trying to save the world once more?" Kaitou asked.

"All three," Kurama mumbled.

"I'd be willing to help if you need me," Kaitou offered as he looked Kurama.

"Thank you," Kurama said as he managed to smile. "It means a lot to me right now."

"Sir?" Shachi said as he walked over to Yomi who was looking outside of tall window down onto the city.

"Yes?" Yomi asked.

"Do you really think that Kurama will come back?" Shachi asked, hoping Yomi would side with him. "I mean he did betray you once before."

"Yes." Yomi smiled. "I've got something over him this time."

Yomi's head titled down to Mikai who was outside training right underneath the window. She was moving about quickly, dodging an attack of another demon that Yomi had hired as her trainer for a while.

"Once Kurama returns, everything will fall into place," Yomi said. "For now go and watch Mukuro's army on the western front."

"Yes sir." Shachi walked away damming Kurama in his own mind. He dare not say anything, or even mumble anything because Yomi would hear it due to his excellent hearing.

* * *

Kurama walked down his streets almost ready to go back to the Makai. His brother had already been threatened, and now he was on his way back to that evil demon world. As he walked, he saw a young woman standing at the end of the street.

She had short burgundy hair, which lightly touched her shoulders. Her light green eyes landed on Kurama gently as he walked over to her. She was wearing a gray sweatshirt and baggy blue jeans.

"Excuse me?" she asked as she ran over to Kurama. "Are you Shuuichi Minamino?"

"Yes," Kurama answered. "Why?"

"I'm Yuzu, Mikai's best friend," she said gently. "Please Shuuichi, I know everything about Mikai! I know her past, Senkai, and how see feels about you! Please tell me where she is!"

"Yuzu, " Kurama said trying to remember that name. He remembered Mikai mentioning the name once, saying that she was her best friend and all. "How much of demons do you know of?"

"I know about the Makai, the kings, Spirit World, you name it why?" Yuzu asked hurriedly. "Where is she? She's not still in the Makai is she?"

"Still?" Kurama asked.

"Yeah. Before she came to Japan, she went to the Makai to look for something. She called me when she got into Japan and said that she had met a friend, I think his name was Suke or something."

"Yusuke?"

"Yeah that's it!"

Kurama sighed, the burden on him right now was so hard and he hated it, but Yuzu deserved to know about it.

"Yuzu, Mikai _is_ in the Makai," Kurama answered. "I'm going back to get her."

"Mikai." Yuzu sniffled as she threw her hands to her face. "Dammit Mikai! I-I told you not to go back!" Yuzu began to cry into her hands. "S-She's not coming b-back."

"I'll bring her back," Kurama promised. "I have to."

"What?" Yuzu looked up at the red head with tears in her eyes.

"I have to bring her back. If not for you, then for me." Kurama smiled. " I promise that in one year, I will return with Mikai."

"Really?" Yuzu said happily as some of her tears faded.

"Yes," Kurama said gently.

"Good." She sniffled a bit. "Please be careful in the Makai Shuuichi." Yuzu bowed to him, turned around, and ran away.

It all hit him. Mikai was a living person. Not that Kurama looked over this before, but now he realized that Mikai had a family and people who cared about her. He had to fight in order to bring her back so that nothing would be damaged. Seeing the way that Yuzu cared for Mikai put feelings into Kurama that motivated him more to go and fight. He had to do this, for everyone, and for his own future.

* * *

Back in the Makai, Yomi had accepted Kurama's generals: Chuu, Jin, Rinku, Touya, Suzuki and Shishiwakamaru, and Shachi had been relieved of his duties. In his anger, Shachi had tried to kill Kurama but failed, having to meet Kurama's rose whip face to face. But right before he died, Shachi did get a glance at Youko Kurama.

"So what are we supposed to do now?" Jin asked as he scratched his finger under his nose.

"I don't know all I want to do is take a shower," Suzuki said with a sigh.

"Do as you like," Kurama said. "But when the time comes you will be needed to train no matter what."

"Yes sir." They all sighed.

"How have things been going?" Kurama asked Yomi once they were both alone in Yomi's chambers.

"Fine." Yomi sighed. "I have been, though, searching for a trainer for Mikai."

Kurama became confused. "I thought I was going to train her."

"No," Yomi said as he turned back around to face the red head. "An idea just hit me. I know who will train Mikai. Shinka!" Yomi yelled.

"Yes sir?" a man asked who walked into the room behind Kurama. He looked remarkably human. Having short black hair, with a piece or too in front of his gray eyes, and wearing what almost everyone else was, a red drape with a black outfit behind it. His outfit, though, did look a bit more lose, as if he needed the extra room.

"I want you to train Mikai for war."

"Yes sir." Shinka bowed and walked off down the halls.

"Why don't you want me to train Mikai?" Kurama asked as he looked at the blind demon.

"No reason. I just thought that you might be too busy training the others to train someone as important as Mikai. Next to you and I, Kurama, Mikai could be the third most power fullest one. For one more year that is."

"Then what?"

"I don't know," Yomi said as he turned his head and smiled at Kurama. "Who knows what the future may hold Kurama. Maybe we'll all be dead by then but I doubt it."

Kurama turned around for a minute only to hear Yomi speak to him once more, but now in a more serious tone.

"What does Mikai mean to you?"

"Why?" Kurama asked as he turned back around.

"Whenever you're near her, or talk about her, your heart picks up it's pace a bit. Usually humans do that when they're around someone they love, or fear, and I sincerely doubt that you fear her."

"If you truly have been looking into my past then you should know what Mikai means to me."

"Action is one thing, matters of the heart are another," Yomi said as he turned back around.

"Mikai is special to me. On what level that is I don't feel as if it has any true meaning to you so I'm taking my leave now." Kurama began to walk out hoping that he had said the right words so as not to lead Yomi on and to deceive him a bit.

As Kurama walked on, he stopped at a window seeing Mikai down below him, training. He didn't smile, but instead kept it hidden. _I know it's not fair Mikai, but for now I'm going to have to put my feelings on hold. It would be far too risky for the both of us to get into a relationship right now. I'm sorry._

It had been six months since everyone had been in the Makai. Hiei, Kurama, and Yusuke hadn't seen each other for six months, and in away, they all did mess each other, and didn't look forward to the fact that they may end up fighting each other soon.

"Sir!" Shinka yelled as he ran over to Yomi, who was sitting at a large blue table with Kurama by his side. "Sir!"

"Yes?" Yomi asked somewhat annoyed already.

"I can't seem to find Mikai! It seems that she's just disappeared!" Shinka said as he slammed his hands down on the table before him.

"Really?" Yomi rose an eyebrow.

"I think he knows where she went!" Shinka accused as he looked at the red head.

"Now Shinka, you're not saying that Kurama let her leave without telling anyone. Especially on the day when she was going to be trained against weapons today right?"

"B-But," Shinka began.

"You wouldn't do that would you Kurama?" Yomi asked as he moved his face to him.

"Not today." Kurama smiled, though inside he was a bit worried.

"There. Now please go and help Kameda with some work. I'll grant you a bit of a free day today." Yomi smiled.

"Yes sir," Shinka said as he walked out of the room, but not before he shot Kurama a glare.

"Tsk, tsk." Yomi shook his head. "Another enemy Kurama? Don't tell me he's going to end up like Shachi."

"Tell me Yomi," Kurama asked. "How did you know that I didn't know where Mikai went?"

"Your heart beat picked up a bit when he mentioned that she was gone. Your mind became worried for a minute. Now you wouldn't have been worried if you knew where she was," Yomi explained with a smile on his face.

"Observant." Kurama smiled.

"But on the subject, when was the last time that you talked to her?"

"About a month ago." Kurama thought. _Has it really been that long since I last talked to Mikai?_

"Oh." Yomi sighed, but smiled inside.

* * *

Yusuke was training when he heard someone call his name from behind.

"Yusuke!"

Yusuke turned around to see Mikai standing there with a bag over her shoulder, and on top of her head, stood two up right fox ears. "Hey!" She smiled.

"Mikai?" Yusuke asked as he stepped near her. "Mikai!" He ran over to Mikai, and jumped on her, tackling her to the ground. "Mikai you're okay!"

"Yusuke!" Mikai laughed happily. "I'm fine! Jeez you act like you haven't seen me in years."

"It feels like it!" Yusuke said as he stood up and held Mikai up too. "So you came all this way just to see me?"

"No…" Mikai scratched the back of head. "Not really."

"What?" Yusuke asked, not expecting Mikai to be so blunt about it.

"I came here to see him." Mikai turned around and looked up at Raizen's tower.

"The first time I see an old face and they're here to see _him_," Yusuke said with a slight laugh.

"Sorry." Mikai laughed a bit.

"Mikai," Hokushin said as he stepped up between the two. "Raizen-sama is ready to see you now."

"Okay." Mikai sighed. "Yusuke, I'll come back down here to talk to you after my little talk with your dad."

"He's not my dad," Yusuke said as he watched his friend walk off.

"Whatever Urameshi!" Mikai yelled.

* * *

It had been about an hour or two later, Yusuke heard Raizen's stomach growl, and Mikai still hadn't come back down. He had stopped training with Hokushin in fear of having to run up into Raizen's tower to save Mikai from getting eaten.

_Come on Mikai._ Yusuke thought.

"Hey Yusuke," Mikai said with a sigh as she popped up next to the black haired boy.

"Shit!" Yusuke jumped back. "When did you get there?"

"Few minutes ago."

"How'd it all go?" Yusuke asked as he sat down.

"Fine." Mikai sat down next to Yusuke. "I hate doing all of this training though."

"I know." Yusuke laughed.

"Yusuke…," Mikai said quietly. "Promise me that if we fight, in this war...that you'll make it a good fight."

"Yeah sure." Yusuke blinked. "But anyways...how's Kurama? And what's up with the fox ears?"

"I don't know," Mikai said as she fell back onto her hands, putting all of her weight onto them. "I haven't been talking to him. But about the ears, did you really think I was gonna go see Raizen the human eater as my normal self? That's crazy."

"Is it all of your training that's keeping you from Kurama?" Yusuke asked, going back to the subject of the red head.

"Yeah." Mikai sighed. "I sunk away today but I know I'm in for an ear full when I get back."

The two were quiet for a while. Both were just lying there, looking up at the purple sky when the both of them knew that they should have been training.

"Hey. What did you tell Keiko before you left?" Mikai asked.

"That, she shouldn't wait for me to get back. I told her how I felt, that I didn't really think that I was in love with her the way she thought I was. I told her to go on with her life and not let a punk like me make her wait." Yusuke sighed.

"I've got someone for you," Mikai said as she sat back up and smiled. "Her name's Yuzu, she's my best friend back in America. You would really like her."

"Really?" Yusuke laughed. "We'll see about that."

"When we get back to the Ningenkai, you'll met her and you'll see." Mikai laughed a bit. "But Yusuke? Can I talk to you…about something serious?"

"Yeah," Yusuke said as he looked at her.

"Yusuke," Mikai said as she looked back up at the purple sky. "This is hard to say, but I need to talk to you about what I wanna do after the war."

The two sat there for hours talking about what they were going to do. Mikai told Yusuke everything that she wanted to do after the war, or maybe even during it. Yusuke didn't agree with Mikai's plans, but he knew that was what was best for her, and her future. There was no other choice but to do what Mikai wanted to. The two agreed that Mikai's plan was the best, and planned to work on it.

* * *

Two days later, Mikai returned to Gandara during a heavy storm. She slipped by all of Yomi's security guards, and made it back up into her room. She opened the door, and slipped in. She sighed as she became coated in the darkness of her room.

"So where have you been?" a deep voice said from the darkness. Mikai recognized it and stepped forward a bit.

"Youko?" she asked. She then felt two arms wrap around her small frame and felt his head rest on her shoulder.

"Do me one thing," he whispered with his deep voice. "Change into Senkai."

Mikai thought it over a bit. She was in debt to him, after all he did change to Youko when she needed him too. It was only right if she did the same for him.

"Okay," Mikai said gently as she pulled away. She walked a bit forward, and in the cover of the dark, changed back into her kitsune form. Youko Kurama could feel the change in ki, and her presents once more come back.

"Senkai," Youko said gently.

"Youko," Senkai answered as he felt her body embrace his. This was it. Everything that he had wanted for the past years, just to feel her body next to his once more. Nothing could ruin this moment for him. Nothing in the world, Ningenkai or Makai.

"My Senkai," Youko whispered as he kissed her gently on her forehead.

"Youko," Senkai whispered back as she wrapped her arms around the bigger kitsune, digging her fingers into his white shirt in the back. "I missed you."

"I thought I would never find you again," Youko said as he placed his hands on the side of Senkai's face and made her look up at him. Youko smiled to see Senkai blush a bit as her blue eyes looked away.

"I want to prove something to you," she said gently as her right arm reached up and grabbed his hand off of her face. "Something I should have years ago." Senkai laced her fingers with his gently.

Senkai reached up and gently kissed Youko, as he wrapped his left arm around the smaller kitsune. As the two kissed, they both moved to the bed, where Senkai fell down, Youko on top of her not breaking the kiss at all.

Senkai pulled away for a minute. "What if Yomi hears?"

"Don't worry," Youko answered with confidence as he nudged his face next to her neck—an old kitsune mating habit of his. "I put up a plant that absorbs sounds. No sound shall leave this room."

"I'm sorry," Senkai said as she felt Youko slip out of his shirt.

"For what?" he asked gently.

"Not telling you sooner, and letting you suffer for all these years." Senkai blushed as Youko fell on top of her, his face next to hers.

"It's in the past," Youko whispered. "All that matters is now."

The two kissed once more, as Youko moved their laced fingers upward, above both of their heads. It was that night that the two fulfilled all of their desires. Youko and Senkai became one for the first time in their lives, now belonging to one another, in a promise that would once more echo through time. They both wouldn't forget what they had done, and didn't want to. It was now out to each other, how they felt, how they wanted to be, and how it was going to be, until time ended for the both of them.

* * *

R&R please! 


	7. Falling Apart

I don't own YYH or any of it's characters. I only own Mikai, Kith, Shinka and Sotto.

Thank you to everyone who's reviewed! I love reading the things you put! Hehe! Anyways here is the 7th chapter; there are some mentions of sex so watch out. And there are spoilers so watch out! Enjoy

* * *

It had been a full year since Kurama, Yusuke, and Hiei had left for the Makai. And in an earlier time, within six months, many things had happened to the each of them. Yusuke was now training full time with Hokushin, and hadn't seen anyone besides Mikai in six months. Hiei had been doing nothing but training next to Mukuro. Kurama had been training, and training Yomi's army as well, but beside all of that, Youko and Senkai had slept together five times in six months. It was odd for Kurama to wake up the next morning back in his Shuuichi form, with a naked Mikai next to him. Of course, he never looked or himself gotten intimate with her, for fear of it hurting the both of them in the long run. Other then that, though, he had been raised by his Mother not to do such a thing before marriage.

Yomi, of course, was obvious to all of Youko and Senkai's happenings. And the two wanted to keep it that way. They both feared that if Yomi knew, he would pull the two apart, so the two kept it a secret.

"Kurama," Yomi said as he walked into his meeting room.

"Yes?" Kurama asked.

"Is Mikai with Shinka?"

"You ask me as if I would know." Kurama answered, knowing that Yomi knew something was up and hoped that Kurama would be foolish enough to fall into his trap.

"I guess you don't." Yomi sighed.

"But where is she?" Kurama asked now wanting to know.

"Training I believe." Yomi smiled as he laced his fingers in front of his face and supported his chin on them. "Mikai will be a great warrior in this war Kurama. Don't you agree?"

"Yes," Kurama agreed not really liking the idea of Mikai going into war for someone like Yomi.

* * *

Yusuke had been fighting Raizen, and was now sitting there in front of his old man, listening to the story of how Raizen met the human that he fell in love with, impregnated, and had began Yusuke's family line with. At the end of his story, he paused and looked up at Yusuke.

"What?" Yusuke asked, now feeling a bit uncomfortable.

"Remember everything to hold close to your heart Yusuke. Over time things will leave you, but I sense that one girl, will be bound with you and your little group for all eternity," Raizen said as he looked at his young grandson of many generations. "Her innocent eyes have haunted me ever since the day many years ago that I first looked into them. And now you look into them in a way that I never did. I saw her as a lost kitsune with death knocking on her door. You, somehow, see her as your sister of some type. Just remember Yusuke; things in the Ningenkai are different from the Makai. People, and demons change. Just make sure that if you kill her, it's mercilessly."

"What?" Yusuke asked now even more confused. "What does Mikai have to do with this?"

"Never let anyone you love slip away from you Yusuke. People throw things away so easily but you, you don't have much to throw away in the first place right? But hold on to her…hold on to everything that you have…" Raizen placed his head down between his legs, and his energy dissipated.

Yusuke sat there looking on at the closest thing he had to a father. And now, he was gone. A strike of lighting hit an area near him, thunder following, allowing Yusuke to yell in sorrow without anyone hearing.

* * *

"I'm going to Gandara," Yusuke said to Hokushin and all of his troupes. He had just informed them of Raizen's death, and hoped that the anger they felt from that would cause them to agree with his usual hotheaded moves.

"But your highness you can't be serious!" Hokushin said as he stepped forward.

"I'm as serious as a heart attack." Yusuke smiled.

* * *

Mikai was running to Shinka, ready to attack at full pace only she felt an immense burning sensation once more in the bottom of her stomach. She fell to her knees, only to have her power flow through all of her. Every part of her body was flowing with power that she couldn't control. She had no idea where to place it all.

"Crap!" she yelled as she wrapped her arms around herself. "What's…g-going on?"

* * *

"Yomi," Kurama said as he turned to the blind one. "Raizen has died."

"It's about time." Yomi smiled. "Make sure to arm all of our soldiers in case of Mukuro."

The two stood there only to feel and see one of the towers of Gandara fall onto the ground. As land shook, Kurama had to stop and catch himself from falling, and Yomi grabbed the table before it too fell over.

"What is that?" Yomi asked.

Kurama ran to the window to see that the Gandara tower had fallen in the same place that Shinka and Mikai had been training. A stunned Shinka was standing next to the fallen tower with a hint of fear on his face.

"Mikai!" Kurama said as he ran out of the office as fast as he could.

Kurama reached the area, he saw a blood stained Mikai in the hands of Chuu. She was breathing, but it was hard to tell.

"I got her out," Chuu said as he moved Mikai a bit, causing her to groan.

"We came just in time. That was about to fall on her," Toyua said as he pointed to a large beam, which then fell down, piercing the ground deeply.

"Damn," Chuu said a bit scared. "Good thing we got this little one out when we did."

"Is she alive?" Shinka asked as he ran over to his student.

"Fine," Mikai mumbled as she opened her eyes weakly.

"Mikai!" Kurama said in relief as he came closer to her and looked at her badly wounded body. "What's wrong?"

"My whole body hurts," Mikai mumbled once more. "I can't control my body at all."

"Don't worry about that now love," Chuu said as he adjusted Mikai gently in his arms. "We need to get you healed."

"I'll take care of that," Yomi said as he walked over to the group. "Chuu bring her this way."

"Yes sir." Chuu listened as he walked over to the blind demon, taking Mikai with him.

"What happened?" Kurama asked as he turned to Shinka.

"We were training, and then all of a sudden a large burst of energy came flooding through the air and Mikai must have been the receiver. I don't know Kurama but whatever it was, it caused her to fall to her knees at first."

"Mikai," Kurama whispered as he looked at Chuu walk away with her in his arms.

* * *

Yusuke had come to Gandara, and had proposed the tournament, which everyone had agreed to. Yomi of course, thought Kurama was betraying him by siding with Yusuke, but Kurama had reassured him that he wasn't. But now, half a day later, Yomi was with Yoda in his chambers looking at Mikai who was pinned up against the wall by the same plant Kurama had seen her in, and next to her was a large incubator holding a small fetus inside.

"Two or three more days Yomi," Yoda said as he stepped forward. "And your son will be ready for battle."

"Excellent." Yomi smiled. "He will start training as soon as he's born. He's my secret weapon against Mukuro. His power level will help me destroy Mukuro with or without the tournament. Nothing can break my plans now."

"Yomi-sama, may I ask you a question?" Yoda asked.

"Yes."

"What is she here for? Is she only here to keep the fox here?"

"No, but it is an added benefit." Yomi answered as he walked over to Mikai's body. "Mikai is too my secret weapon. I'm saving her for last. She's going to kill Yusuke no matter what I want him dead. Shura will be in the tournament, while Mikai shall sit on the sidelines in secrecy."

"Why her sir?" Yoda asked once more.

"She has fragments of Raizen's power itself. She'll be equal to Yusuke on one level and hopefully all the training she's doing and the little push of motivation I'm going to give her will cause her to defeat the young king. It's all as simple as that." Yomi smiled. "And when I rule the unified worlds, Kurama shall be standing behind me, and Mikai by my side, hand in mine, like it should have been so many years ago."

"Where am I?" Mikai asked herself as she awoke only to discover that she was still being healed by the same plant as before.

"Good morning." Yomi smiled.

"Crap," she cursed as she moved, trying to get one of her arms loose.

"I have quite a bit of news for you. Are you going to listen?"

"Do I have a choice?" Mikai coughed a bit.

"Raizen has died."

"What!?" Mikai said as she stood fully at attention. "Since when?"

"He died yesterday while you were training. I found out seconds before you received the energy wave."

"What was that anyway?" Mikai asked, feeling hurt somewhere inside that the only male figure Yusuke had in his life had died.

"I guess when Raizen's energy left this world, it passed once through you and then left. Why I don't know. Maybe because of your ability to see the dead and channel them that you've began to develop here."

"Dead?" Mikai asked.

"Maybe because of Senkai who was always good with summoning the dead and using them, and her reincarnation in your body has now given you the power. You've always been able to see things correct?"

"Yeah." Mikai blinked.

"You power lies with the dead here in the Makai. And because of Raizen's leaving, the power channeled through you, and then left. You'll be okay." Yomi sighed.

"Is there anymore news?"

"Yusuke has proposed a tournament and everyone is going to enter expect for you. The winner gets to be the king of the Makai and does whatever he sees fit," Yomi answered as he turned around to face the incubator.

"Why can't I enter?"

"You're training will have to increase in order to contain all of your summoning powers. I've found you a new trainer. You won't enter because of your lack of control over your powers."

Mikai sighed and looked around to see exactly where she was. She had never seen this tower before but in it, something caught her attention. The incubator.

"What's that?" she asked as he plant around her released her to the floor gently. She walked over to the incubator and looked into it. She touched it gently, feeling that it was warm.

"My son." Yomi smiled. "He'll be up in two or three days."

"Son?" Mikai asked as she turned to the blind king.

"Genetically engineered," Yomi said as he walked over behind Mikai. "He'll be trained only to fight and nothing else."

Mikai twitched a bit. She didn't like the idea of making a child only for one purpose and she didn't like how close Yomi was. So she turned and began to walk away.

"I'm leaving," she huffed as she walked out.

"Wait." Yomi grabbed her arm.

Feelings shot through Mikai but the only one she could catch was the immediate feeling of fear. She didn't want to show it, but Senkai's memory of Yomi holding her hand down the night he took her innocence ran through Mikai's mind and triggered feelings that she had never felt before.

"What?" Mikai said quickly as she faced him.

"Your new trainer."

Yomi looked to the doorway of the room. There stood a man with short blue hair, which was tied back into a high ponytail. He had on a blue tunic, which touched his ankles, hiding his figure under everything. His light blue eyes landed on Mikai in surprise.

"Mikai?" he asked with a deep voice.

"Kith?" Mikai asked happily.

"Hey!" He smiled as he ran over to Mikai and hugged her tightly. "Oh man I haven't seen you for forever!"

"I know!" Mikai answered with excitement in her voice.

"You know her?" Yomi asked as he looked at the two as they parted.

"Oh." Kith perked up. "Yes sir! I promise it won't interfere with my work!"

"I hoped not." Yomi turned away. "Mikai please show Kith around the place. I don't want him wandering around."

"Yes," Mikai said trying to hide her sigh as she bowed.

* * *

_I wonder how Mikai is?_ Kurama thought as he walked down the dark hallways. Ever since he watched Chuu walk away with Mikai he had been wondering had recovered. He now was going to find Yomi and ask.

"So Shuuichi this is where you've been?" a voice Kurama knew said. Kurama looked forward to see Kith come around from behind a corner.

Kurama blinked, and then his memory came back to him. "You're Kith correct? You attend my school?"

"Wow I'm amazed you knew my name," Kith said with a sarcastic smile as he walked over, in front of the red head. "After all, you're always surrounded by women and always have your nose stuck in some book."

"What do you want?"

"Hum." Kith looked away with an evil smile on his face. "Nothing much. I just wanted to see the famous killer Youko Kurama. You know, you're nothing without him, you owe everything to him."

Kurama glared at the young man looking on with eyes not belonging to him but rather a cold demon fox that was still buried within him.

"You best keep your mouth closed," Kurama hissed.

"Huh." Kith moved his eyes away from Kurama's. "This tournament will decide much about you, Kurama. It'll show who you really are and who you will become. One of your sides will win and I hope for your sake," Kith turned away before he could finish. "It's Youko."

Kith walked down the hallway, leaving Kurama standing there with all of his thoughts to himself. In his short time even being around Kith, Kith had figured out almost everything that Kurama was thinking about. Who was Kith? And how did he know what Kurama was going through?

* * *

"Mikai?" Yomi asked.

Kurama, after his little meeting with Kith, had made his way over to Yomi's office where he always gave his war plans to everyone. He had finally asked the question of where Mikai was as of now.

"I think she's retired to her room," Yomi answered as he laced his fingers together underneath his chin.

"Who is Kith?" Kurama asked wishing to know.

"Kith is a half human, half wolf demon from the Ningenkai. I didn't know until today that he knew Mikai. If I did, I won't have made him her trainer." Yomi sighed, hiding a hint of anger or jealously.

"You may have made a great choice, or mistake," Kurama said as he looked out of the nearby window.

"Yes I know." Yomi let out a large sigh. "But everything will work out."

Mikai was lying down on her big comfy bed, the sheets bundled up next to her body. She looked at her outstretched right arm and saw the hole in her arm, which was used by the plant to insert it's special medication.

"Crap," Mikai mumbled to herself as she ran her hands over her face. She was so tired from training for a year non stop.

The only time she got to herself was when she was lying in bed, like this. Nothing could touch her when she was here like this, but she did want one more thing, Kurama. She wanted to be near him so badly, she wanted everything about him, his touch, his smell, everything. In the past few times Youko and Senkai had been together, Mikai had considered sleeping with Kurama herself. In the end though, Mikai came to her senses, figuring that it all of those emotions came from her hormones and she would snap back into place.

Mikai rolled over onto her stomach and stuffed her face into her white pillow. As she took her breathes in, she smelled what was left of Kurama. He hadn't been with her for a few weeks now, and she missed him. She missed waking up next to him, and listening to him breathe in his sleep. In those moments, everything was perfect and those were the moments Mikai lived for.

A small knock came to her door.

"Yeah?" Mikai answered not paying too much attention.

Her right sliver fox ear moved backwards a bit to hear the door open, a bit of movement of someone walking in, and then the door closing. She didn't hear too much more, but everything changed when she felt someone lay down next to her. She looked to her side to see Kurama.

"Hey," Mikai said as a smile crossed her face.

Kurama reached his arms out and grabbed Mikai, pulling her close to him. Their bodies met, Mikai's head in Kurama's neck with her arms tucked in, moving up and down with his rising chest. Kurama's left arm wrapped around Mikai's waist, and his right arm reached up behind her head and he laced his fingers though her hair.

"What's wrong?" Mikai asked, feeling Kurama's hesitation.

"Who's Kith?"

"My new trainer, why?" Mikai asked as she snuggled next to Kurama's chest.

"I just met him in the hallway not too long ago," Kurama said as he snuggled his body back.

"I knew him back in the Ningenkai too. He used to live in America with me, and when I moved to Japan a few years ago he came with me. He stayed in Japan once I left to return to America, and was waiting for me to come back," Mikai said as she thought about it all. "What did he say to you?"

"Don't worry about it," Kurama whispered. "Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine but…" Mikai's hands grasped the back of Kurama's tunic and held tight. "I don't want you to enter the tournament."

"Why?" Kurama asked a bit surprised as he looked down only to see that her eyes were hidden in his chest.

"Yomi's up to something. Something I don't like," Mikai confessed. "And if you get lost within all of it, I don't know what I'll do."

"Mikai…," Kurama whispered as he took his left hand off of her waist, placed it on her chin and made her look up at him. "Everything will be fine. I won't let anything go wrong, there's too much at stake."

"It's just that…" Mikai looked up into Kurama's bright green eyes. "I don't want you to lose who you are."

_Lose who you are._

Those words ran through Kurama's head over and over, trying think of the meaning. Did she really want everything he wanted for himself but was too afraid to ask for? She knew everything that he was too scared to say or think for too long.

"Tell me something," Kurama whispered as he moved his lips towards Mikai's. "Will you still love me even if I lose a part of me?"

"I'll love you, no matter who you lose." Mikai blushed as she loosened her grip on Kurama's tunic. "No matter what, you'll always be my Kurama."

Kurama pushed his lips onto Mikai's fully, and lovingly. He could be himself, and not have to worry about anything getting in his way may it be Youko or Yomi. Things were perfect, and nothing could touch the two as they lay there like this. Nothing.

* * *

R&R please! 


	8. Building Families

I don't own YYH or any of it's characters. I only own Mikai, Shinka, Kith and Sotto.

Okay chapter 8...thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy

* * *

"_Kurama…," a gentle female voice said in the darkness that surrounded Kurama. His green eyes looked around to see nothing but darkness around him. "Kurama?"_

"Where am I?" Kurama asked himself out loud as he looked around, his eyes becoming blank. There was nothing to look at, and he could feel a cold wind wrap itself around him. He wrapped his arms around himself, trying to stay warm.

"_It's not fair. Why do we have to be apart and never together when we want to be?"_

_I've been here before._ Kurama thought. _I've had this dream before. _

"_Mommy!"_ a small male voice said happily. Kurama looked around to see a small boy standing next to him. He looked almost exactly like Yomi, only smaller. His hair was cut short in a bowl shape, and he had large blue eyes.

"_Mommy!"_ he called once more.

"_Come here Shura!"_ Mikai's voice called. Kurama looked to his left and saw Mikai standing there with her arms wide open. She smiled as the young boy, Shura ran over to her, through Kurama, and jumped into Mikai's arms.

"_Mommy!"_ Shura said happily as he rubbed his face next to Mikai's.

"_Mikai?"_ Yomi said as he appeared next to Mikai and Shura. Mikai looked up at him as he rose his hand out, and placed her hand in his.

What's going on? Kurama asked himself. Is this a dream…or a prediction? Mikai's not going to…stay with Yomi is she?

"_Our family is now complete,"_ Yomi said with a smile. "_Let's go."_

The three of them, the newly formed family, began to walk out into the darkness, leaving Kurama behind. He watched as Yomi laced his fingers with Mikai's, and Shura laughed. He was left there, watching everyone leave him behind.

"Mikai…," Kurama whispered as he watched them walk away.

Kurama awoke with his heart pounding away in his chest. He was sweating, and his breath was escaping him quickly. As he felt himself clam down, he began to search for Mikai as he did a year before, after all he had fallen asleep in her bed. He didn't find her, thinking that she was back out training, he got up, fixed himself up, and walked outside into the main hallway.

He felt content within himself. No words could describe how he was feeling inside. He could go into the fight now loved by Mikai, and come back out with a part of him missing and still be loved as if nothing happened. Nothing would change between them at all. But maybe one thing, Yomi. Kurama feared something happening between the two since Mikai was always with him. For once in his life he felt as if he couldn't control or predict what a female would do. Their fate, was in Mikai's hands and she didn't know it.

* * *

Yusuke stood there, in front of his father's grave, which was now covered in flowers from people who would now miss Raizen. Yusuke had done what he thought would be good for the Makai by setting up a tournament.

"Hey," Mikai's voice said from behind Yusuke. He turned around to see her standing there with sadness in her eyes.

"Mikai?" Yusuke asked as he looked at her.

"I just came to…" Mikai looked away. "I bet you're tired of hearing "I'm sorry" from people so I'm not gonna say it." Mikai walked over to the black haired boy.

"Nah it's okay." Yusuke sighed. "Go ahead and say it."

"Nah," Mikai answered as she walked over to Raizen's grave and kneeled down in front of it. She placed a white rose down onto the sliver grave. "Thank you Raizen. I owe you more then anyone else should." Mikai stood back up and looked back at Yusuke.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"I'll be fine." Yusuke scratched the back of his head. "And I have an answer for you, about what you wanted to do after this tournament is over."

"What?" Mikai asked as she perked up a bit.

Yusuke looked right into Mikai's eyes. "Yes."

* * *

Mikai returned to Gandara later on that night, and decided to go and see the young, growing Shura. She had sunk back into Gandara without being caught let along stopped by any of the guards. She entered the room where Shura was being incubated and saw that he was growing quickly.

"Poor kid," Mikai whispered as she pressed her hand against the warm glass. "Being born for a purpose rather out of love."

"So what are you doing here?" Yomi asked as he stepped into the room behind Mikai. She turned around quickly, out of fear.

"I…uh…just wanted to see how he was growing," Mikai answered as her eyes looked back at the young demon.

"Really?" Yomi smiled as he too placed his hand on Shura's incubator. "Everything is going fine, ever since that energy release from Raizen's kingdom, or rather Urameshi's, Shura has been growing in power and as become more and more of his surroundings."

"When will he be out?"

"Soon," Yomi answered as he bent down and wrapped his arms around Mikai's small neck. "And I've been meaning to ask you, Shura will need a mother in his life and I was wondering if you would fill that position."

Mikai shivered as Yomi's hot breath fell over her ear. She thought about what the blind demon was saying, was it right for Shura not to have a mother? Was she right for the job? Mikai knew that she would be able to and feared what Yomi would do if she declined.

"I will," Mikai agreed.

"Very good." Yomi smiled. "He'll be awake soon, and then you can met him, our son."

Later on that night, in Gandara rain fell heavily. Thunder clapped behind all of the skyscrapers, but all of Yomi's men stood in their posts, watching over everything. The guards were the first ones to bring the stray woman up to Yomi's office where he was sitting happily.

"Sir!" a guard yelled as two others brought in a young looking demon. Her straight black hair fell around her as she was placed on the table in front of Yomi. Her dark blue cat ears wiggled as she woke up reveling her light brown eyes to the world. She was wearing a tight black shirt and blue pants, and had a blue bag over her shoulder.

"Where am I?" she asked as she looked around.

"In my kingdom," Yomi answered. "And might I ask who you are and why you are here?"

"I'm Sotto," she said as she hopped off of the table. "And you're Yomi-sama?"

"Yes." Yomi smiled. "I take it that you're a cat demon?"

"Yeah." Sotto rubbed her car ears. "I'm here to see Mikai, she's here right?"

"Yes," Yomi said as his arched an eyebrow. "Kurama." Yomi turned as Kurama walked into the room. "Go and fetch Mikai would you?"

"Of course," Kurama answered as he walked out of the room, and down towards Mikai's room. He knocked on the door and then opened it seeing no one inside.

_She must be training._ Kurama thought.

As Kurama turned back around in order to tell Yomi that he wasn't able to reach Mikai, he saw Mikai walk into Yomi's office with a stoic look about her. He sighed, and then he too, walked into the room behind Mikai.

"Ah Mikai, just the person I wanted to see," Yomi said as he looked over at Mikai.

"Why?" Mikai asked as her eyes landed on Sotto. "Sotto!?" She asked.

"Mikai!" Sotto said happily as she ran over to Mikai and grabbed her, hugging her tightly. "I haven't seen you for, forever!"

"You either!" Mikai said happily. She pulled away from the hug as she looked back at everyone else who was now looking at her oddly.

"Mind introducing her Mikai?" Yomi asked.

"Sotto is like a sister to me back in America…back in the Ningenkai that is," Mikai said as she looked at everyone.

"Yeah and I'm here to see Hi—"

Mikai wrapped her hand around Sotto's mouth before she could say anything more. Yomi rose an eyebrow as the conversation went on before him while Kurama knew whom Sotto was talking about.

"Come back into my room," Mikai said with a laugh. "Sotto will room with me okay Yomi-sama?"

"Sure." Yomi smiled. "You are dismissed."

Mikai led the young kitten out as she walked by Kurama. She looked directly at him, then looked away and continued to walk down towards her room, which was down the hall.

_Something's wrong._ Kurama thought.

* * *

The rain outside of the towers had stopped, and Kurama was now outside looking up at the night sky. His mind wondered about what was going on, and his heart was calling out to him. he wanted something, needed something.

_Mikai._ He thought. She was the only one who could make him feel better about his decisions in life. He didn't know whether it was because he hadn't been able to talk to her as much as he wanted, or something else that was making his heart call out to him.

"Kurama?" Mikai asked as she walked over to his side. "Are you okay?"

"I'm just thinking," Kurama answered as he looked at the older woman. "I've been wondering about something for awhile now, and I wanted to ask you something."

"What?"

"When I was out the other day, I met Hiei," Kurama said as he thought back.

* * *

Kurama was out, doing some chore for Yomi, which was saved only for his second-in-command, which Kurama now was. He was out in the middle of nowhere when he saw his old friend.

"Hiei," Kurama said as the small demon appeared before him with his arms crossed. "What are you doing here?"

"I just came here to ask you something," Hiei answered.

"Yes?"

"Is Yomi going to take up Urameshi's plan for a tournament?" Hiei asked.

"As far as I know." Kurama smiled. "Is that all?"

"One more thing." Hiei looked away as if he were ashamed. "How's Mikai?"

"Fine as far as I know," Kurama said with a slight laugh.

"Good." Hiei stuck up his nose. "I'll see you at the tournament."

With that, Hiei disappeared just as quickly as he had appeared, leaving Kurama in wonder. He shook his head as he walked back towards Yomi's kingdom.

* * *

"It seemed odd to me that Hiei asked about someone that he doesn't know very well so I'm assuming that you do know Hiei beyond that of a friend. How close are you to Hiei?" Kurama asked as he looked at Mikai who was looking up at the sky.

"You'll find out at the tournament," Mikai said almost in a whisper. "Have you noticed that there aren't any stars here?"

"Sad isn't it?" Kurama said as he too looked up at the sky.

"I'd better go inside now." Mikai sighed. "I have a really big day tomorrow."

"Good night," Kurama said as he reached over to Mikai and kissed her gently on the forehead.

"Night." Mikai smiled through a blush.

"Hum," Yomi muttered to himself as he looked outside of his window. Even though he couldn't see, he could still sense that Mikai was down below him talking to Kurama. He sensed everything that happened through his senses, the talking, and the kiss.

"It's time for things to become interesting," Yomi said with a smile.

Kurama was no back in the main tower of Yomi's kingdom. He walked into Yomi's office, seeing Yomi sitting down looking as if he were thinking, so Kurama sat down next to him, not saying a word.

"Kurama I want you to have a last minute training session with our new army while I train Mikai and I's son," Yomi said hoping it would start something.

"Son?" Kurama asked as he sat forward, wanting to know more about what he said. How could he and Mikai have a son? Kurama hadn't seen Mikai pregnant at anytime and yet here in the Makai things could have slipped by him.

"Don't worry Kurama I doubt you'll be fighting him in the tournament," Yomi said with a smile as he sat up. "You'll be meeting him soon."

"Yes," Kurama said as he stood up, stunned and began to walk down to Mikai's room. Yomi couldn't have could he? He had once before when Mikai was Senkai, and he Youko. If he had, why hadn't Mikai told him? After Youko had been sleeping with Senkai, could she had been sleeping with Yomi at the same time? She wouldn't do that would she?

"Mikai?" Kurama asked as he walked into her room without knocking. "Mikai wake up." He shook her gently.

"Hum? Wha?" Mikai asked as she looked up at him in confusion. "What is it Kurama?"

"Do you have a son with Yomi?" Kurama asked urgently.

"Son?" Mikai blinked as she sat up rubbing her eyes. She said the first thing that came to her tired mind. "Yeah…"

"What?" Kurama asked as he began to shiver. He couldn't believe what was happening. "You couldn't have."

"What?" Mikai asked once more as she began to fall deeper into sleep. "It's no big deal, don't worry about it."

"Don't worry?" Kurama repeated as he looked at Mikai. "How can I not worry?" He turned and walked out of the room without saying another word to Mikai.

"What was that about?" Sotto asked as she popped up from the bedside.

"I don't know," Mikai said as she began to fall back to sleep. "I'll talk to him tomorrow about it."

Kurama fell down into his bed. She and Yomi had a son together and that wasn't the thing that hurt him the most. Mikai hadn't told him anything about it, and had led him on. He knew he was jumping to conclusions of some sort but that's all his mind could do. He didn't know what to think, or what to do.

_I'll sleep on this._ Kurama thought. _I'll talk to her in the morning about everything._

Kurama didn't get a chance to roll over before he fell into a deep sleep, not remembering anything he dreamt about that night.

* * *

R&R please! 


	9. Return Of The Past

I don't own YYH or any of it's characters. I only own Mikai, Sotto, and Kith.

Yay! Update! It's about time too huh? Well anyways, here's the new chapter! Enjoy it please!

* * *

As the days went by faster, the tournament was coming up quicker and quicker. Kurama hadn't seen Mikai or Sotto since the night that he had come into her room asking her the question he hated. His own team was now keeping him busy, him getting them ready to a point just to make sure that if something went wrong, at least one of their allies would win the tournament.

"So how are you and the little girl?" Chuu asked as he hit Kurama on the back one day after training.

"Yeah I heard you two were in a passionate love that no one could break," Suzuki said as he too looked at the red head.

"I'll tell ya you two are the cutest couple I ever did see," Jin said with a smile as he floating next to everyone else.

"I haven't seen her for awhile," Kurama said with a fake smile.

"That's good," Kith said as he walked into the room with a grin on his face that Kurama didn't like. "I don't think she'd want to see you anyway."

"And who are you?" Suzuki snapped as he glared at the new trainer.

"I'm Mikai's trainer. Now Shuuichi why would Mikai want you when she could have Yomi-sama? I mean he's so much more powerful then you." Kith laughed.

"Hey don't interfere with their relationship!" Chuu yelled as he stepped up to Kith.

"Trust me if there is anyone Mikai needs to be with, it's Yomi," Kith growled as he looked up at Chuu. "Like you would know anything about anyone."

"Why I outta!" Chuu rose his fist only to have his friends pull him backwards.

"Don't do anything!" Jin said as he pulled Chuu back.

"He's not worth it!" Rinku said as he too pulled back the large blue haired man.

"I'll be seeing you around." Kith turned his back to everyone. "And Shuuichi, remember Senkai did belong to Yomi-sama, so in place for the object you stole, Mikai is now his. That's why Yomi-sama picked her to be a mother to his son."

Kith walked out of the room, leaving everyone in awe. No one said anything as everyone who had grabbed Chuu were slowly slipping off, wondering what someone should say.

"Forget him Kurama," Chuu said as he turned back to the red head.

"What was he saying about Mikai being a mother?" Touya asked as he looked at Kurama also.

"I don't know." Kurama gripped his fists. "I think Mikai is the mother of Yomi's son."

"WHAT!?" everyone yelled as they looked at Kurama.

"That can't be true!" Chuu yelled. "She always hung out with us when she wasn't trainin' and she was never pregnant! I refuse to believe it! Besides she wouldn't do that to you Kurama! She told me herself that she loved you!"

"Yeah she always said stuff like that," Rinku said as he scratched under his nose.

"Have you asked her if anything was true?" Touya asked.

"I didn't…I tried but when I did she was half asleep," Kurama confessed seeing a small light in his dark mind.

"Go ask her," Shishiwakamaru said as he crossed his arms. "It's the only way to be sure."

"Thank you." Kurama smiled. "I must be going now." Kurama began to walk towards the front door of the training room with a bit of hope in his heart.

"Don't worry about it Kurama!" Chuu yelled.

* * *

Shura's small body hit the floor, and skidded to a stop. He sat up rubbing his head as he looked up at his father who was standing across the room from him.

"That really hurt!" Shura whined as he rubbed his head.

"Get up and try it again," Yomi ordered.

Shura began to stand up but was brought back down when his knee buckled underneath him. "Ow."

"Shura!" Mikai said as she ran over to his side from the sidelines. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine mother," Shura said as he looked up at Mikai. "I just hurt my knee that's all."

"He's fine," Yomi said as he walked over to his son.

"Just let me look," Mikai hissed as she lifted Shura's blue pants to see a cut on the back of his knee, which was bleeding. "You're okay."

"I told you mother!" Shura said as he stood back up and rose his fists to his father.

"I'm just worried about you," Mikai said as she too stood up. "Can ya blame me?" She laughed gently.

"Shura," Yomi said as he faced his son. "Go out and do something, your mother and I have something to discuss."

Mikai looked at Yomi questioningly as Shura nodded. "Yes father." And with that, Shura left the to alone in the dark training room.

"What?" Mikai asked.

"How do you think it's coming?" Yomi asked as he walked over to the younger woman. "His training I mean."

"Fine." Mikai sighed. "I think you're pushing him too hard though."

"Well this was what he was created for," Yomi said with his own low sigh.

"It's still wrong," Mikai hissed as she looked away from the blind demon. "Children are a combination of two people who love each other or who at least thought they did. You on the other hand have created a child so that you could win some tournament."

"What makes you think that?" Yomi asked, not having any idea how Mikai figured out his plan for the young prince.

"It's simple," Mikai said with a slight laugh as she turned back to Yomi. "I mean if Shura did win the right to become the king of the Makai, wouldn't you order him to hand it over? It's pretty to hard to imagine you just standing to the side while your son rules over this world and does what he wants with it. Especially after fighting Mukuro and Raizen for over five hundred years like you have."

"My, my." Yomi said with a smile. "You really have grown up haven't you? Senkai was never like this before."

"Dammit!" Mikai yelled. "I'm not Senkai! I'm Mikai! Senkai is buried within me and is a part of me but I'm not her! Get that straight before you talk to me again." Mikai walked past Yomi and out of Shura's private training room growling under her breath.

Here in the Makai she was always being compared to Senkai, the demon fox buried deep within her. Back in the Ningenkai she was Mikai and no one else knew anything else. She wanted to be treated as she had been back at home, as Mikai not Senkai. Everything here was about Senkai and her past, but what about Mikai? What about her past and future? Was it doomed to be like Senkai's?

"Screw all of this," Mikai hissed.

As a pissed of Mikai stomped down the hallways of Yomi's kingdom, she turned a corner and met face-to-face with Kurama who looked a bit scared.

"Kurama!" Mikai said as she jumped back in surprise. "You scared me!"

"Mikai?" Kurama asked as he ignored her reaction and walked over to her. "Please come with my to my room. I need to talk to you."

"Sure." Mikai blinked, confused and a bit scared inside because of the look on Kurama's face. He usually was so cool and yet now he looked scared as if someone was about to die.

* * *

Mikai followed Kurama back to his room where he opened the door for her. She thanked him, and walked in, Kurama following behind her. He closed the door and sat on his bed, then patted the spot next to him asking for Mikai to come and sit down next to him. She did as she was asked and looked at him.

"Are you okay?" she said gently.

"Mikai, do you have a child with Yomi?" Kurama asked, the words almost hurting him to say it.

"Not like, together," Mikai said as she looked at Kurama gently. "Yomi created a son for fighting…" Mikai gripped her pants in her closed fists. "and Yomi asked if I could be like a mother to the kid so I said yes. His name is Shura and I hated the fact that Yomi just decided to create a son so I figured if I could help the kid in any way, the kid's life might be better."

"That's it?" Kurama asked as he sat forward a bit.

"Why you think I slept with him?" Mikai asked as she looked at the red head. "No way! But Kurama…" Mikai looked away from him and put her head down. "You really think I would do something like that?"

Kurama looked away. He hadn't thought so much as to think that his question would hurt Mikai. He had been so worried about whether it was really true or not, that he forgot whether Mikai would really do something like that. He had forgotten how she would feel.

"I'm sorry," Kurama said in a low tone. "I shouldn't have thought that way about you."

"I can't say that I forgive you right now," Mikai replied as she looked back at the red head. "It might take me awhile to get over this but I have to say that I still love you."

Kurama smiled. "I understand. I love you too."

* * *

Mikai returned to her bedroom with a slight smile on her face. She walked over to her bed and was about to lie down when Sotto popped up next to her.

"So what were you and the red head doing?" she asked with a devilish smile on her face.

"Nothing," Mikai answered as she sat down on the bed. "You know he acutely thought that I would sleep with Yomi?"

"Ew." Sotto laughed. "Would you though?"

"No!" Mikai looked away. "That's gross."

"Can I ask you something?" Sotto asked as she sat down next to Mikai. "Why are Yomi's eyes always closed?"

"He's blind," Mikai answered as she looked at the clueless kitten.

"Then how did he know that I was a cat demon?" Sotto asked as a confused look came over her face. She blinked a few times as she tried to think of how he would be able to tell.

"He could properly smell the dander's coming off of your ears and recognized them as being cat dander's. Other then that I don't know." Mikai shrugged her shoulders.

"Ew. He can do that?"

"Yeah."

"Creepy." Sotto looked around suspiciously. "I wonder what else he can sense."

"Where are you going with this?" Mikai asked as she narrowed her eyes towards the young kitten.

"Where do you think?" Sotto asked.

* * *

Kurama walked about Yomi's skyscrapers, thinking to himself. Everyone was supposed to be asleep by now but mostly everyone was up nervous about the upcoming tournament. It must have been getting to him also, because even when he laid down in a dark room with nothing else to think about, sleep would not find him.

"Ahoy mate what are you doin' up this late at night?" Chuu asked as Kurama spotted him from down the long hallway. He had a small bottle in his hands and a bit of a blush on his face.

"Are you supposed to be drinking?" Kurama asked with a slight laugh as Chuu walked over to him.

"It's every man for himself!" Chuu laughed out loud. "But Kurama, I've been wanting to talk to you."

"About what?" Kurama asked as Chuu placed his arm around the smaller boy. "You're not drunk are you?"

"Not yet!" Chuu laughed once more. "But to be more serious, did ya talk to Mikai yet?"

"Yes." Kurama smiled. "I think everything's going to be okay between us."

"That a boy!" Chuu hit Kurama playfully. "See I told you everything would okay! She really loves you ya know?"

"You think?" Kurama smiled as he felt a small blush come over him.

"Yeah you're lucky." Chuu let go of Kurama and moved his arms behind his head. "To have someone that loves you that much that is. I'd tell ya I'd give almost anything to have someone that loves me. You always hear stories about people bein' in love and I guess…when the times comes you have to realize it before it fades away."

"What was her name?" Kurama asked.

"Somethin', I don't know maybe all my drinkin' is finally getting to me. I don't remember her name at all, and yet I can still remember her face. Ironic that I began drinking to forget her because everythin' hurt so much but now I want her back more then anythin'." Chuu turned back around to Kurama. "Sorry I've been borin' you with this rubbish."

"I don't think its rubbish at all," Kurama said as he looked up at his comrade.

"Anyways." Chuu coughed. "I just wanted to see how things went. I really want you two to get together. I know I must sound crazy but I think you and the little Mikai are destined for each other."

"You really think so?" Kurama asked as he smiled both inside and out.

"Yeah!" Chuu yelled as he opened his mouth and poured more beer down his throat. "We need to sees that you gets to bed!" Chuu wrapped his arm around Kurama once more. "Let's go."

Kurama let Chuu walk him down the hallway towards his bedroom. His mind was content now, and somewhere in his heart he felt a bit of hesitation. A part of him wanted to believe Chuu with all of his heart, and yet that hesitation was still pulling him back. Why it was there was beyond him, but he just hoped that everything would go okay.

* * *

Mikai was sitting up in her bed, rubbing her hand. It hurt out of nowhere but that wasn't odd for Mikai now. Ever since her trainer changed from Shinka to Kith, she found herself getting more and more hurt in everyday actives. Everything now hurt, and Mikai couldn't figure out why. She just figured that everything would get better after the tournament, and when she would get a break from training.

"Crap," Mikai mumbled to herself. There was no one to talk to in her room for Sotto had gone out to the kitchen and decided to run around and explore everything around Yomi's kingdom which was so much like the cities back home.

Mikai fell back into her bed and sighed. She moved her head to the side and began to relax in her bed but everything in her rose to it's peak as she felt someone sit on the bed next to her. She sat up to see Yomi sitting on the side of her bed.

"Yomi-sama…," Mikai said as she looked at him. She sighed and began to catch the breath that she lost when her first shock ran through her.

"Mikai." Yomi turned to the young demon. "I came here to apologize."

"Oh." Mikai looked away. "Thanks I guess."

"Can I ask you something?" Yomi asked as he coughed a bit, clearing his throat.

"Sure." Mikai coughed too.

"What is your weakness?"

"My weakness?" Mikai repeated as she thought it over. She thought really hard about it, wondering if it was safe to tell him. Would he use it to his advantage during a fight?

"Not going to answer?" Yomi said as he shook his head. "I don't blame you. But do allow me to tell you mine." Yomi shifted his body so that he was facing Mikai directly. "My two weaknesses are my need for power, and my new heart."

"New heart?" Mikai asked as she looked at the blind demon.

"After I lost my light I discovered that I had taken advantage of many things. I wanted power, I wanted to be better the Youko Kurama, and I wanted all of the power that came from being the leader of the bandit group. But now I see all of the mistakes I've made. I see how I acted, and how I knew that Senkai loved Youko deeply and maybe that's why I wanted her in the first place." Yomi sighed as he found himself confessing. "My new heart now tells me that I must make everything right and to do that I have to make a new start, and with that, I want to have my own family. You, me, and Shura."

Yomi reached over to Mikai, and gently pressed his lips against hers. Mikai's eyes widened as she tired to pull away but Yomi's arms wrapped around her, pulling her in deeper.

_What's going on?_ Mikai thought. _This isn't right! I have to stop this! _

"_I understand. I love you too."_

As Mikai sat there with her body pressed up against Yomi's she could think of nothing but Kurama. She had just said that she would never do anything with Yomi and yet here she was, not doing a damn thing to stop it. She was falling into Senkai's past, it was happing once more, Yomi was getting what he wanted even though she wanted Kurama. The past was repeating itself once more, but now Senkai was Mikai, and Youko now Shuuichi.

_I don't want this to end. I want this, I really do._ A small voice echoed through Mikai's head, breaking all of her thoughts. _I'm sorry…Youko._

_What the hell?_ Mikai thought as she felt herself begin to kiss Yomi back, giving him the signal to take things further if he wanted too.

Yomi's mouth left Mikai's and began to trail kisses down her small neck. His hands were running up and down Mikai's back as she sat there looking up at the ceiling as her body began to shiver from Yomi's kisses. She felt goose bumps come over her as she came back to her senses.

"Stop…," she said in almost a whisper. "Yomi-sama stop."

Yomi stopped hearing the master reference at the end of his name, it then just hitting him that he was not the Yomi he was so many years ago when Mikai was Senkai. This was not Senkai but Mikai. No matter what he did tonight, he could not fix the past. He couldn't fix everything that he messed up that night when stole Senkai's innocence. He couldn't get Senkai back.

"Excuse me," Yomi said as he pulled away from Mikai. "I'm sorry."

Yomi could sense the drop in Mikai's mindset. He heard her place her head down, and the small strands of hair fall in front of her face, hiding her eyes. The same eyes Yomi was dying to see, dying to look into one more time be could not. All because of that sliver fox.

"I'll see you tomorrow for Shura's training lesson, and discuss what is to happen at the tournament you're little friend has set up," Yomi said as he stood up. "Good night."

Yomi walked towards the bedroom door, opened it, and walked out. He gently closed the door behind him and smiled. _Don't worry Mikai you will be mine._ He thought as he began to walk away.

"Dammit!" Mikai yelled as she slammed her fists down into her white pillow. She bit her lower lip in order to keep herself from crying, as her body took in a small breath in order to begin her crying.

_What the hell was that?_ Mikai thought as she felt an urge to run out and hold Yomi tight to her body, and fall into bed with him. _Why the hell do I feel this way? I…She…can't can she? But if she does…then….that's unfair to Kurama…I can't…drag Kurama on this way. I have to let him go…this isn't fair to him. He has to have someone who loves him and him only. _She fell down onto her bed as small tears fell from her eyes. She took in a hard breath as he gripped the white blanket beneath her.

_Kurama…I'm sorry. Please forgive me. Forgive…us.

* * *

_

R&R please!


	10. Secrets Written In Tape

I don't own YYH or any of it's characters. I just own Mikai, Sotto, and Kith.

Okay, here ya go another chapter. I hope you enjoy and a little secret will be reveled in here which will tell everything of something hidden in the past. Well enjoy

* * *

For the next few days, everyone kept to himself or herself and did their own thing as they waited for the tournament to come. Kurama hadn't seen Mikai in the time of everyone's silence and hadn't even seen Sotto around either. Kurama didn't even seen Mikai or Sotto the morning of the tournament, but he did meet up with Yomi.

"Ready Kurama?" Yomi asked as he looked in the direction of the red head.

"Yes," Kurama said not worried about the tournament. As he looked at the blind demon, he noticed a smaller demon standing next to him who was glaring up at him.

"Ah yes Kurama meet my son, Shura," Yomi said as he pushed his son forward to meet Kurama. "Say hello Shura."

"So who are you?" Shura asked as he looked at Kurama.

"His name is Kurama," Yomi answered before Kurama could. "He is my second in command when it comes to my army."

"He doesn't look very strong," Shura answered as he looked up at his father.

"Looks aren't everything," Kurama said with a smile.

"Only weaklings say that!" Shura said as he stuck his tongue out at the fox. Kurama laughed a bit as Yomi placed his hand on his son's shoulder.

"Respect Shura," Yomi said.

"Can we go Father?" Shura asked as he looked up at Yomi. "I want to get to the tournament as soon as possible."

"Fine." Yomi moved his head back upwards to face Kurama. "We will see you there."

"Yes." Kurama nodded.

"Good luck." Yomi turned his back and began to walk away as Shura shot a glare towards Kurama as they walked.

_I hope everything goes well._ Kurama thought as he began to walk towards the place of the tournament.

* * *

Millions of demons had arrived at the place of the tournament. They all stood looking at the enemy, comparing themselves to everyone. Yusuke of course didn't care and was found stretching.

"Yusuke," Yomi said as he walked up to the young prince with Shura by his side, Mikai and Sotto who was looking around.

"Yomi," Yusuke answered as he then looked at Mikai. "Hey Mikai how are you?"

"Fine Yusuke." Mikai smiled. "You?"

"Mother, Father?" Shura asked as he looked up at the two. "Who this is?"

_Did this kid just call Mikai, Mother?_ Yusuke asked himself as he watched Mikai react to Shura calling Mother out.

"This is Yusuke," Yomi answered. "The one who proposed this whole thing."

"He isn't every strong is he?" Shura asked.

"What?" Yusuke hissed.

"Yusuke meet my son Shura," Yomi introduced. "Or rather our son." Yomi added as he moved his head towards Mikai who laughed nervously.

"Where is he?" Sotto asked as she looked around.

"We'll find him," Mikai whispered. "Don't worry about it."

"Mikai," Yusuke said as he stood forward a bit. "is this kid your s—"

Shura pulled away from the group and pointed to his father, causing Yusuke to stop in the middle of his sentence.

"If you go easy on me during the tournament I'll never speak to you again father!" Shura yelled and then ran off.

"Shura wait!" Mikai yelled as she took off after him.

"Hey wait for me!" Sotto yelled as she too ran after the young prince.

"Mothers." Yomi laughed. "They're so protective. Anyway good luck in getting into a group, Yusuke. We don't want you getting knocked out early now do we?"

Yomi walked away from the heir leaving him with questions that he couldn't answer.

_What was up with that Shura kid and Mikai?_ Yusuke thought as he looked in the direction that they had taken off in. _Is that really her son? But with Yomi of all people? I thought she was with Kurama._

As Yusuke went back to stretching a bit, Koenma, Botan, and George appeared at the top of the stands in their disguises. Koenma looked over at Yusuke and saw that Kurama and Hiei were walking up to him.

"Sir where's Mikai?" Botan asked as she looked at Koenma. "Isn't she supposed to be here?"

"I don't know where she is," Koenma answered. "But that's not who I'm looking for…" Koenma began to look around the area carefully.

"Who are you looking for sir?" George asked.

"Sotto," Koenma answered. "She's bound to cause problems here."

"Why is that?" Botan asked as she too began to look around.

"Mukuro might not like her. And knowing Mukuro, she'll get rid of anything that bothers her or gets in her way."

"Gets in her way?" Botan repeated as she looked back at the Reikai prince. What could that kitten do to get in Mukuro's way? Botan thought.

"I haven't seen you guys in forever!" Yusuke said happily as he looked at Hiei and Kurama. "So what have you been up to?"

"Skip the pleasantries Urameshi," Hiei hissed as he glared at Yusuke. "I'm just here to make sure that I win rule over the Makai."

"You and every other demon here!" Yusuke yelled as he got in Hiei's face.

"I'd be careful if I were you! Everyone wants to knock you out first and it would be a disgrace if the man who organized this whole thing got knocked out in the first few rounds," Hiei argued back.

"Well at least I don't have to stand on a phone book to fight!"

"You're starting to sound like Kuwabara!"

"HIEI!!" a female voice yelled as Hiei twitched. Everyone looked behind him to see Sotto standing there with a smug look on her face. She ran over to Hiei and hugged him tightly as he blushed slightly. Yusuke and Kurama held back their laughs as Sotto rubbed her face next to Hiei's.

"Oh Hiei I've missed you so much!" Sotto said as she pulled away from him for a minute. Hiei stuck his hands in his pockets and looked away blushing.

"So who's this?" Yusuke asked as he poked Hiei in the face.

"Don't touch me," Hiei hissed. "This is Sotto, my fiancée."

Yusuke's mouth hit the floor as he looked at Hiei and Sotto. Kurama giggled a bit and smiled. He stepped up closer to the group and looked at Hiei.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Kurama asked.

"There are demons out there who hate me," Hiei growled. "I couldn't risk telling anyone at the time were I was being hunted down."

"When was that?" Yusuke asked as he picked his chin up off of the floor.

"Back when Mikai first came in. I was being hunted by a certain group of demons and I didn't want to go and open my mouth," Hiei answered. "I still don't want people to know so don't go around telling people."

"What so that means she was with you through the Sensui incident?" Yusuke asked.

"Yes."

"I'm Sotto," she said as she stuck her hand out to Yusuke. "You're the ex Spirit detective Mikai told me about right? Yusuke Urameshi?"

"Yeah that's me." Yusuke shook the kitten's hand. "So how do you know Mikai? I've never heard her talk about you before."

"I met Mikai back in Japan when you off being trained by Genkai because you won that tournament against Rando. She and I lived together because both of my parents had died. I'll never forget everything Mikai did for me back then." Sotto's ears wiggled.

"But Mikai never mentioned anything about you to me when I met up with her later on," Yusuke said.

"Well I worked in Spirit World for a long time and only came down to Japan once in awhile ya know to help Mikai on her missions and such. And then…I met Hiei."

"You met Hiei before Kurama met Mikai?" Yusuke asked keeping the questions going hoping to answer a question buried within his own head.

"Yeah, Mikai met Hiei way back."

"So that's why you always acted so friendly towards her," Kurama said as he looked at the shorter demon.

"Anyways!" Sotto said as she laughed a bit. "I just came over here to tell you to be careful." Sotto reached down to Hiei's level and kissed him gently on his cheek.

"I want to talk to you later," Hiei said as he looked into Sotto's eyes. "After the primaries come and see me in the room where Mukuro is staying."

"Sure!" Sotto turned around. "Good luck you guys!" She yelled as she began to run into the crowd disappearing.

"Way to go Hiei," Yusuke said as he hit Hiei in the side with his elbow. "You got a nice lookin' one."

"Shut up," Hiei hissed as he blushed once more.

"So do you have a ring?" Kurama asked.

Hiei looked down to his right hand. "Yes. I keep it under all of my finger wrappings."

"Aw so it doesn't get lost?" Yusuke teased. The blush on Hiei's face became a deeper shade of red due to the fact that Yusuke had figured out the meaning of wrapping his hand up besides the fact that it hid his tattoo of The Dragon of the Darkness Flame.

"Kurama?" Hiei asked as he turned to his old friend. "Will you hold my ring for me while I fight?"

"As long as you're not fighting me, of course." Kurama smiled.

* * *

Everyone was now looking up at the large screen placed in front of them, looking to see which demon drew what. All ordinary demons feared getting Yomi or Mukuro in their groups, while some couldn't wait to get Yusuke, Kurama, or Hiei so they could kill them quickly.

"We have an announcement!" Koto yelled into her microphone after everyone was done getting sorted into their own fighting groups. "Mikai the reincarnation of the fox demon Senkai, has entered the tournament as a fighter! And she's been placed in group 1! Good luck to her but let's get this thing started!"

"Senkai's here?" a demon next to Kurama whispered to another. "Shit I may as well just drop out right now."

"Is she really that good?" the other demon asked.

"She used to run with Yomi _and_ Youko Kurama. I mean how much more power can you have? I also heard that she slept with Raizen a few times before he past away."

"_Really_? There should be more demons like her around here." The demons broke out laughing as Kurama glared at them both.

"If you two want to keep living then you'll hold your tongue around me," Kurama said in a low tone as the two demons faced him.

"Oh crap its Kurama!" the demon said as he backed up. "Come on, let's get out of here!"

Both demons turned their backs and ran as fast as they could away from the red head. They knew who he was, and knew too well what someone like him could do to simple demons like them.

_I'm sorry to say that I too am a demon like them._ Kurama thought._ Mikai never told me that she was going to fight…I wonder why.

* * *

_

"Are you ready?" Yomi asked as he moved his head towards Mikai with a smile.

"Just don't hurt Shura too badly," Mikai said in a low tone. "I'll see you after my fight."

Yomi listened and waited for Mikai to leave the room. As soon as her heartbeat was out of listening range, he smiled. "Everything is going according to plan."

* * *

"Welcome back ladies and gentlemen!" Koto yelled into her microphone. "As we've just seen in these fights we've got a lot of great fighters out here today! So far everyone has finished their fights expect for Mikai, Chuu and Yomi!"

"How do you think she's doing?" Touya asked as he looked at Suzuki.

"Mikai is doing fine," he answered as he watched her hop around avoiding another demon on the large screen in front of them. "She doesn't even look like she's trying that hard."

"What are you going to do if you have to fight her?"

"I'm not going to throw everything just because she's a close friend." Suzuki crossed his arms.

"That's good." Touya smiled.

"And Mikai has just cleared her preliminary battle! Which means that she will move on to fight another round but against whom? Now sit back as we watch Chuu, Yomi and Shura battle their own way out!" Koto yelled as Kurama let out a sigh of relief.

_She's made it._ Kurama thought as he looked back at the screen. _But this also means that I could have to battle her later on._

"So how is she doin'?" Yusuke asked as he walked up to the concerned head.

"Fine really," Kurama replied as he looked to his side as Yusuke walked to his side. "Are you worried you may have to face her?"

"Nope I look forward to it really." Yusuke smiled. "I hope I do get to battle her! I'm gonna get back at Senkai for the time she beat the crap out of me."

"Oh," Kurama said in a low tone as he looked back to the screen. Chuu was now fighting but Kurama wasn't giving the blue haired man the respect he deserved. His mind was now somewhere else, thinking about what would happen if _he_ had to fight Mikai. Would he be able to hurt her?

"Hey…," Mikai said gently as she walked into the room with the two other boys. "How's Chuu doing?"

"He'd better be doing good," Yusuke answered as he turned back to the screen.

"Well," Mikai corrected as Yusuke growled.

"What are you my English teacher?"

"I will be if I have to!" Mikai yelled as she shot a glare towards Yusuke. "You never did well in English class anyways!"

"Only because I had you as tutor!" Yusuke yelled back as he got in her face. The two's eyes met in a dead stare full of hate as Yusuke's cheek twitched.

"Mikai," Kurama said gently as he turned around to the two, somewhere inside hating himself for breaking up their little fit. Partly because the small fit was just a cover up of how much they had really missed each other over the past few years and weeks.

"What?" Mikai asked, not taking her eyes away from Yusuke's.

"Shura and Yomi are fighting now," Kurama finished.

Mikai broke away from Yusuke's eyes and walked closer to the screen so she could get a better view. Kurama stood there, by her side as she watched the one person she had to look over as a mother in her life. He was surprised at how quickly she had changed from a playful mode, to a motherly mode within seconds.

_She must care for Shura deeply._ Kurama thought as he looked at Mikai.

"Calm down he's gonna be fine," Yusuke said as he walked over to Mikai and hit her gently on the back, expecting to get a hit back but got nothing. Disappointed he focused back on the battle at hand.

* * *

Sotto was unaware of the battle going on the large screen and could really care less for it. She was a fighter, but only when she had to be. She couldn't enter a tournament just for the fun of fighting; she needed something to come from it such as money or food. Besides that she didn't want to rule the Makai, what would she do with it? But as for now, all Sotto wanted to do was find her short little demon and spend some time with him.

_Where is he?_ Sotto thought as she looked around. She was walking down a long hallway that some random demon said Mukuro could be found. She looked around in the blue hallway and spotted a small door to her right.

_That's gotta be it_! The kitten thought happily.

Sotto peeked her head into the room to see Hiei sitting down in the corner of the room, and an orange haired woman standing next to him watching a screen placed in front of her.

"How do you think this will turn out Hiei?" she asked. Not looking away from the screen.

"I don't care," Hiei hissed.

_Who the hell is that!?_ Sotto thought as she puffed up her cheeks. _And why is she acting so relaxed around him? I've never seen anyone act that way when Hiei's around…unless she's known him for a while now._

"HIEI!" Sotto yelled as she stomped into the room.

"Sotto?" Hiei asked as he watched his fiancée walk into the room with her cheeks still puffed up. He blinked a few times as the kitten stood next to him.

"And who is she?" Sotto asked as her eyebrow twitched.

"Who is this?" Mukuro asked as she too looked at Hiei, not feeling any kind of threat from Sotto's ki level.

Hiei stood up. "Sotto meet Mukuro, Mukuro meet Sotto."

"Sotto?" Mukuro repeated as she looked at the kitten. "And who is she to you Hiei if I might ask?"

Hiei blushed a bit and broke his eye contact with the older woman. "A fighting partner," he lied.

"Oh." Sotto coughed as she too looked away. "I…uh…just came here to see how you were. Okay? Good luck in the rest of your battles." Sotto smiled a fake smile, which hurt her to commit to.

"I don't need luck," Hiei hissed as he sat back down onto the floor and relaxed. "You know that."

"Right," Sotto hissed back as she turned her back to the shorter demon. She took a deep breath of air and walked towards the door, leaving the two alone in the room.

"Does she mean something to you?" Mukuro asked as she looked at Hiei who now had his head tucked into his chest.

"She's a fighting partner," Hiei repeated. "Nothing more."

"Huh." Mukuro turned away from Hiei and looked back at the screen. She knew something was up, Hiei was horrible at keeping secrets as she could tell. She would learn Hiei's secrets, whether he liked it or not.

Sotto lend on a blue wall, further away from the door, which led to the room with Mukuro and Hiei. Her fists were in small balls at her side as she gritted her teeth together.

"I hate living in secret like this," she whispered to herself. "I hate it."

* * *

R&R please! 


	11. Behind A Kitten's Eyes

I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or any of it's characters. I only own Mikai, Sotto, and Kith.

Haven't updated in awhile huh? Well anyways, here's the 11th chapter so I hope all of you like. **00000000** Shows a flashback starting and when you see it again, it has ended. Okay so here we go. By the way, the last YYH disc came out here in the states and I'm over here looking at it...I'm too sad to watch! Enjoy

* * *

The entire Makai watched as Shura fell on his backside and looked up at his father with tears in his eyes. Everyone waited to see if the young demon would still fight his father— trying hopelessly to beat him—or give up everything and drop out of the tournament.

"Give up Shura…," Mikai mumbled as she watched the two fight. "Please…you're getting too hurt."

"He's gonna give up," Yusuke said as he looked at Mikai. She didn't look at him, but instead continued to look towards the screen.

_Dammit._ Yusuke thought as he turned around and walked out of the door, which he came in through. Kurama watched him as he did so in wonder.

_Yusuke…what's wrong?_ Kurama asked himself.

Yusuke seemed as if he wanted Mikai's attention but what for? Was it because he wanted to talk to Mikai? Or was it simple because he wanted her attention because he hadn't seen her in so long and just wished that everything would go back to the way it used to be? Back when Yusuke could see Mikai any day, at anytime? And not have to worry about killing her later or having some demon kill him? Back when three worlds were not on the line, and Yusuke could be as normal as he could be.

_That's what I'll fight for._ Kurama thought. _In order to get those days back, I'll fight as hard as I can. _

"And that's it! Yomi is the winner!" Koto yelled as Kurama came back into the Makai and out of his thoughts. "Looks like Yomi will be moving on while the young Shura has been removed from the tournament!"

"He's okay." Mikai sighed as she relaxed her tensed up body. "Thank God." She placed her head down, and slowly turned around, getting ready to walk away.

"Mikai?" Kurama asked as he caught her walking away.

"What?" Mikai answered, not bothering to turn around.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't want to talk about it right now," Mikai hissed as she began to walk out. Kurama walked after her and once they both outside the room, Kurama's feelings got the better of him, and he pushed Mikai against the wall, looking eye to eye with her.

"Something is wrong. Tell me," Kurama hissed, Mikai almost hearing Youko deep within him.

"I told you I don't wanna talk about it!" Mika yelled back. "I don't want to see you for a while okay? Just don't come around me."

"What?" Kurama asked as he looked at Mikai in surprise. He couldn't believe the words that just came out of Mikai's mouth. "Mikai, why not?"

"Just go!" Mikai yelled.

Kurama twitched in surprise and looked into her eyes, which looked away from his. "Mikai what's wrong?"

"I don't want you to have any emotional attachment to me anymore! Whatever we had it's broken now!" Mikai blurted out as small buds formed in the corners of her eyes. "I want nothing to do with it!"

"Mikai…," Kurama asked as his eyes widened. He shook the initial shock from himself and came to his senses. "What is the matter?" Kurama asked with a great deal of concern now. What could make Mikai want to say something like that to him?

"Just go!" Mikai yelled as she sniffled.

"I don't want to go," Kurama answered as he picked up Mikai's chin so he could look back into her eyes. She pulled away and balled her fists up.

"I will listen to you no matter what, but please," Kurama asked almost desperately. "What is causing you to act this way?"

Kurama was dying inside to know. What was causing her to feel this way? He felt so helpless to see Mikai this way, and he wanted to do anything in his power to make sure that she was okay.

"I…," Mikai began.

"I'll forgive you for anything Mikai," Kurama said even though a part of him regretted saying that. Kurama could think of a few reasons that would cause him to leave Mikai, and now he was praying that none of them were the motivation for Mikai's emotions.

"I'm so stupid…," Mikai whimpered. "I let Yomi kiss me." Mikai looked back up at Kurama with sliver tears falling from her face. "I let it happen…a part of me…wanted it to happen. That stupid little fox inside of me still has some kind of feeling for that bastard and I hate everything that's running through me right now…and you don't deserve to love someone who's not sure whether they completely love you! You're giving everything to me and I'm not giving you back my all. So…I'm asking you to leave me!"

"I can't." Kurama looked away.

"Do it!" Mikai yelled back.

Kurama stood there, his eyes torn away from the other fox, thinking. A part of Senkai still loved Yomi deep down inside. Even though Youko had given himself to Senkai multiple times in the past few years. She still loved him.

_I don't want this to end. I want this, I really do .I'm sorry…Youko._

The thought ran through Mikai's head. In that moment she had with Yomi, _her_ heart longed for Kurama, but Senkai's wanted Yomi for a reason unknown to Mikai. Mikai couldn't be with Kurama, what if the next time Yomi was in her room with her Senkai took it further then Mikai wanted, and Yomi took Mikai away? It wasn't fair to Kurama, and yet it wasn't fair to her.

"I'm sorry…," Mikai cried as her hands covered her eyes from Kurama. "It's not fair…because I love you Kurama."

Kurama turned back to the crying one and wrapped his arms around her neck, holding her tightly as his mouth landed next to her ear. Mikai stood there in surprise, and her arms stood next to her sides, refusing to wrap themselves around the red head.

"I lost you a lifetime before and it's not going to happen again," Kurama whispered into her ear. "He's taken things away from Senkai that she can never get back and I'm not going to let that happen with you. No one could understand what happened that day…" Kurama gripped the back of Mikai's shirt tightly. "I remember everything from that day when Senkai died."

"You read what happened on my record in Spirit World?" Mikai asked with a sniffle.

"Everything's been marked down wrong," Kurama answered.

Kurama thought back to when Koenma was telling Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei, and himself about Senkai and Youko's past together.

"So Kurama you might feel a very strong connection with Mikai and not know why. It's thanks to Youko and Senkai. But Senkai's past was like this. When she was young, she lost both of her parents and begun to thief because it was the only way to get food. She soon became a legend and with every steal she became stronger. It was then that she met Youko Kurama. They had a fight and thought of each other as equals so they begun to steal together. That was until Senkai disappeared one day. About three years later was when Youko was reborn as Kurama, and around the same time, Senkai became Mikai."

He had been so wrong about the way that Youko and Senkai met. The records in Spirit world never said anything about Yomi, or how Youko had once held a small pack of thieves. Now Kurama knew the truth, knew how everything worked and how wrong things went that night. But through searching his memory, he discovered a part of it he didn't want to remember, the day Senkai had died.

"When I remembered it…all of the feelings came along with it…and I refuse to feel everything all over again," Kurama said as he held tighter to the older woman.

"I'm sorry," Mikai finally said as she wrapped her arms around Kurama. "I just…I love you Kurama."

"I love you too," Kurama whispered. "I'll never leave you."

"That's what I'm scared of," Mikai confessed as she dug her fingers into Kurama's tunic. "Almost everyone I've met in my life has left me. My parents left without giving a reason why…Yusuke has been the only one who's never left my side unless he's had too. I never want any of you to leave."

Kurama and Mikai stood in the hallway, holding each other losing track of the time slipping by them. Kurama could see how confused Mikai was, Senkai somewhere in her heart still loved Yomi and was dragging Mikai along even thought she loved Kurama. Mikai wanted Kurama to leave because it was unfair to him to have someone who wasn't fully devoted to him, and yet she was hoping that Kurama wouldn't leave. All Kurama knew was that he loved Mikai and he would be there for the part of her that loved him no matter what.

"I'll always be here for you…," Kurama whispered. "Always my love."

* * *

Yusuke had found a quiet spot to take a break from all the fighting for a minute or two. He was sitting on a small cliff over looking the rest of the Makai down below him. He was about to lay back and relax when he heard a voice from behind him.

"What are you doing out here?"

Yusuke turned around to see Hiei standing there with a smug look on his face.

"Hi to you too Hiei." Yusuke laughed sarcastically. "I'm just taking a small breather."

"Hn." Hiei walked over beside the ex Spirit detective and sat down. His eyes looked out in the same direction Yusuke was when he let out a small sigh.

"So do you love Sotto?" Yusuke asked randomly.

"Why do you care?" Hiei hissed as he looked at Yusuke.

"I just never really pictured you settling down with someone that's all." Yusuke laughed.

"We've been engaged for almost three years," Hiei said, causing Yusuke to stop laughing. "And I haven't married her yet."

"So how did you meet her anyway?" Yusuke asked still wanting to know since he had known Mikai and had never heard of Sotto, let alone her engagement to Hiei. How could someone like Hiei have met and fallen in love with someone like Sotto who seemed so nice?

"It was right after we saved Yukina." Hiei said as he looked up to the sky. "When I met my kitten in the rain.."

**000000000**

Hiei had too much on his mind for comfort. The tournament of demons was soon to come, and he had to go with Yusuke, Kurama, and the idiot. The only thing that seemed to bring him any kind of peace was the tree he was now sitting down in. His eyes were closed as the shade of the tree covered his body. It was usually hot, and he hated it being half ice demon and all.

The small lake next to him gave a comforting nose as he began to fall into a sleep. He could hear the noises of the heat rising from the earth and going back to the sky. It was a laid back, lazy for the small demon.

"Hey!" a small female voice yelled from the base of the tree, waking Hiei up. He opened his tired eyes and looked down to see a younger Sotto looking angrily back up at him.

"Hey!" she called once more after not getting a reaction from him. "Get out of my tree!"

"Normally I wouldn't have bothered to listen to someone like her. But I could sense the demon energy coming off of her."

"Your tree?" Hiei asked. He wasn't in the mood for this right now. He had been up all night with things on his mind and wanted to catch up on as much sleep as he could before he left to go to the tournament.

"This is the tree where my parents used to take me when we went fishing! My family planted this tree so we could remember where the best fishing spot was!" the kitten yelled back up. Hiei didn't response to any of this. He just lend back onto the strong branch behind him and fell back to sleep.

"Hey!" Sotto squeaked. She rose her right leg and kicked the base of the tree so the impact waves went up to the top and caused Hiei to lose his balance and fall out of the tree.

"There!" Sotto hissed.

"You're going to regret that," Hiei hissed as he stood up rubbing the back of his head. He looked back up at the kitten only to look straight into her eyes.

They were so cold, and rock hard, telling Hiei that she had been forced to grow up quickly. But for some reason, her eyes reminded him of Yukina. Yukina's eyes were so innocent, big, and full of life yet to be lived that Hiei never wanted to look in them if something traumatizing happened to her. But Sotto's eyes looked at him as if her life had been lived out for her, and her time was ending.

"What?" Sotto hissed as she looked at Hiei. "Hey."

"What?" Hiei hissed.

"I didn't think you'd be this short." Sotto mewed as she scratched the back of her head. Hiei's cheek twitched.

Sotto turned to face the river and walked over to it, and sat down next to the bank, looking at the crystal clear water with interest. Hiei looked at her cursorily as she quickly stuck her hand in the water and pulled it back out with a fish moving struggling around, trying to breathe.

"Yes first time!" Sotto said happily to herself as she placed it on the ground next to her, making sure that it wouldn't flop away. She turned back around to see Hiei looking at her. "What?" She asked.

"Hn." Hiei looked away.

"You want some fish?" Sotto asked.

"No," Hiei answered. The two were quiet for a moment only to hear the growl of Hiei's stomach. Sotto giggled as Hiei blushed a bit.

Both Hiei and Sotto were sitting on the river bank next to a small extinguished fire with fish in their mouths. Sotto seemed happy as she ate, while Hiei took small nibbles out of his.

"It was the first time someone had been kind enough to give me some of their own food since I lived with the pack of thieves who took me in when I was smaller."

"You like it?" Sotto asked as she looked at Hiei.

"It's fine," Hiei hissed as he took another nipple out of his fish. It was cooked rather well for something that was roasted over a small fire for a few minutes.

"So what's your name?"

"Hiei."

"I'm Sotto." Sotto spit out a small bone she found. "So why are you out here all alone?"

"I choose to live this way," Hiei answered as he too spit out a small bone. "It's harder to feed two mouths rather then one. Besides, having someone around me would be a nuisance."

"Oh." Sotto looked down towards the ground. "You're lucky you can make a choice like that. I was alone for a long time before I found the person I'm staying with now."

"It's easier to be alone," Hiei said as he finished his fish. "Why are you here right now if you have someone to be with?"

"Oh, the person I'm living with right now is in school for once and I was hungry and the only thing I know how to do really well is fish so I came here." Sotto looked down to her wrist to see that her small watch said 2:50. "I have to go okay?"

"Hn." Hiei spit out another bone, not bothering to look up at the kitten.

"I'll see you later Hiei-san okay? Just make sure to stay out if my tree," Sotto warned as she walked away.

Hiei turned and watched her walk away. His eyes then looked down at the fish, which was in his mouth. He had forgotten to eat because of everything on his mind. He looked back to were Sotto and been before. She remembered something he had forgotten to do.

"Everything about her wanted me to learn more about her. I didn't understand why and I still can't."

**0000000000000000**

"And then what?" Yusuke asked as he sat forward, wanting to hear more of Hiei's story. He blinked a few times, waiting for an answer.

"I'm not going over everything," Hiei hissed as he glared at Yusuke. "So I'll skip to something else."

Hiei didn't want to come to terms with the fact that in those next few days that he spent in that tree, Sotto came everyday to fish. And she always stopped to make sure that he had something to eat. Everyday he would sit down with her and the two would talk about things. Hiei day by day slowly was opening up to her a bit more.

"Everything went fine until the day I was attacked by a demon," Hiei began as his memory started once more.

**000000000**

Hiei walked back to the tree he habited by day as the sun began to rise. He had trained hard that night, and was hoping to get some kind of rest. As he walked, a large demon jumped out in front of him with his teeth hanging out of his mouth, covered in saliva.

"So you want a fight?" Hiei said as he took out his katana. "Let's go then."

Hiei's injured hand landed on the trunk of his resting tree as he lend on it, trying to find a place to stand for one of his legs were going to give out soon. His other hand moved away from his left side to reveal a large bleeding wound. He laughed a bit as he thought of his recent fight.

Hiei thought that he was on top of everything until the demon caught him off of his guard and smacked him into a nearby construction site, causing him to scrap past a steel rod. This battle was supposed to be easy but Hiei was so tired from his previous training that it made it harder to move in the ways Hiei needed to.

"Damn…," Hiei cursed as his hand slipped from under him, and he fell to the ground beneath him and everything became black.

"Is he going to be okay?" Hiei heard the kitten's voice say gently as if she was asking someone else, but the question was who?

"He'll be fine don't worry!" another female voice said as Hiei felt a cold liquid touch his wounded arm. His hand tensed as he opened his eyes and looked to his side.

"You're awake!" Sotto said as she ran closer to Hiei's side. "Are you okay?"

"Hn." Hiei looked around to see another woman near him, the woman who was Mikai in a younger body. She looked almost the same, save for her hair, which was a bit longer.

"Where am I?" Hiei asked as he looked around.

"You're at my place," Mikai said as she took a bit of a step back from Hiei, giving him some room to breathe. "My name's Mikai by the way."

Hiei sat up, getting ready to stand up when Sotto ran over to his side and grabbed his shoulders, almost pushing him back down.

"Don't get up! You're not healed all the way yet!" She said gently.

"As you know Yusuke, I had to leave soon to go and help you at the tournament. I hadn't told Sotto yet that I was leaving and I didn't want too. But for some reason, I cared that I would hurt her more if I left without saying anything."

"Sotto…," Hiei said as he looked at the kitten that he had made "friends" with over the past few days.

"What?" she asked gently as she let out of his shoulders.

"I'm leaving." He looked away. Those words slipping off of his tongue hurt him more then he thought. The simple idea of not seeing Sotto once a day was bothering him. How could he have let himself get that close to someone? Why did he care?

"I'm going to do something so I won't be in your tree anymore, just like you wanted it." Hiei hissed trying to understand the feeling inside of him. The only thing he knew how to do was be cold, so he had fallen back onto what came to him by default.

"Oh." Sotto pulled away a bit hurt. "Okay…good." Sotto looked to her right and ran to the door next to her, opened it, and ran out slamming the door behind her.

"Not too good with women are you?" Mikai asked as she pulled up a chair beside Hiei and sat down in it. "Let me have your right arm."

Hiei obeyed and gave his right hand to the older woman. She picked up a roll of bandages off of the floor and began to wrap them around Hiei's hand and fingers, covering his open wounds.

"Sotto has really taken a liking to you, Hiei," Mikai said gently.

"Hiei?" Hiei growled.

"Sotto told me your name, sorry I didn't tell you sooner." Mikai smiled. "Anyway, how are you feeling?"

"Well enough to leave," Hiei said as he began to get up.

"Calm down the Dark Tournament isn't for a while now so just stay here and recover for a while," Mikai said.

"How do you know about it?" Hiei asked as he looked at her. As Mikai sat there, Hiei began to feel it, Mikai's Spirit energy. It's almost the same as Yusuke's…only more untrained. Hiei thought.

"I'm a Spirit Detective in training," Mikai answered. "Anyways, Hiei, why did you become friends with Sotto?"

"I don't see why someone like you should care," Hiei hissed back.

"Sotto's like my sister, of course I care," Mikai answered back. "I'm just hoping that everything works out between you two."

"Works out?" Hiei asked.

"She likes you, and I can tell that might just like her also." Mikai cut the roll of tape, finishing off Hiei's wrapping. "I mean by the you look at her and everything."

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"Think what you want Hiei," Mikai said as she walked over to the room's windowsill and sat down. Hiei heard the sound of a lighter spark, then saw smoke rising from Mikai.

"By the way tell Urameshi that I said good luck, I won't be here when he gets back."

"So you know him?" Hiei asked with a laugh.

"Very well." Mikai smiled.

"Mikai was going to be gone by the time the tournament had ended ,going back to America to close a portal to the Makai . She had told you though, Yusuke, that she had already left."

"Just don't up and leave her okay?" Mikai asked as she looked at Hiei with the same eyes he had seen in Yusuke. "Tell her you're leaving."

"No one tells me what to do," Hiei hissed as he looked away.

"Have it your way." Mikai coughed as she looked back outside of the window.

Hiei had grown somewhat attached to the kitten. She was the only person who had ever came to visit him day after day and make sure that he did what was necessary to keep living. She seemed to be the only one in the world who would care if something did happen to him.

"Your wounds should be better soon so you can leave when you're ready," Mikai said breaking the small section of silence between them.

"Who found me?"

"Sotto," Mikai answered. "She was going to her fishing tree to see you when she found you on the floor so she took you in."

Hiei looked down towards the white sheets, which were wrapped around him. Sotto had proved herself once more to the small demon. She cared for him enough to save his life. Hiei thought this was so stupid. He had heard rumors about love at first sight but this couldn't be it. It couldn't. Hiei wasn't capable of loving. He had never been taught love, so he could never return it. Never.

"I'll leave you alone for a while okay?" Mikai said as she stood up and snuffed her cigarette out. "See ya chibi."

Hiei growled as he watched Mikai walk out of the room. He was now sitting in the room with no one but himself. No one to hear his thoughts but himself, which was bad for Hiei because once he started thinking about his past, no one was there to stop him. He had never had his mother's love, nor love from the small bandit group he lived with through his childhood. He was scared for life, and couldn't possibly find love now, or could he?

* * *

_This is stupid._ Hiei thought.

"_I left that night and didn't say a thing to anyone. That night, I went back to the tree near the lake to catch fish so I could have something to eat on the way over to Hanging Neck Island. Too bad for me that it was raining when I tried to fish."_

"Damn," Hiei cursed as another fish got away from him. The falling rain was scaring away all of the fish and even with Hiei's fast hand movements he couldn't catch them.

_I guess I'll just go hungry then._ Hiei thought as he turned his back to the river. _I haven't gone hungry since Sotto began hanging around here._

Hiei found himself shiver a bit from the cold which was odd for him being an ice demon and all. The temperature shouldn't have bothered him but it was getting to him. He shivered once more as he let a breath escape him and become white mist in front of his face.

_I'd better leave. _

Hiei started to walk away, getting farther and farther away from the tree until a feeling came over him. He knew that he had to leave but he didn't want to. He wanted to stay, stay in the tree and wait for Sotto to come. He wanted to wait. He was looking forward to seeing her.

_Damn._ Hiei looked away from the tree. He bit his lower lip as he found himself wanting to stay and wanting to be near Sotto. Wanting.

"Hiei-san!" Sotto's voice echoed through the rain. "Hiei-san!"

Hiei fought the battle within himself whether to turn around or not. He could run, he knew that the kitten wouldn't be able to catch up to him in time to talk to him.

_Dammit._ Hiei thought as he turned to face the kitten who was now next to the tree trying to catch her breath and soaked to the bone. Her kitten ears were now flopped over and wet, causing her whole body to shake.

"What?" Hiei asked, hiding his true concern under his cold, thick attitude.

"I wanted to say good bye and…" Sotto said between panting as she stood up and held out her hands to Hiei, which held a small box. Hiei took it and looked at it curiously.

"It's fish." Sotto smiled. "I wanted to make sure you had something to eat when you're not fighting."

Hiei looked up at the wet kitten, confused. He had been nothing but mean and cold to her and here she was, still making sure that he had something to eat. So even though he was so far away from him, she could still make sure that he got something to eat. And something he liked too. How could she be so nice to someone who had been so mean to her?

_She must really like me._ Hiei thought, as he blushed a bit.

"I owe you," Hiei said as he turned his back to her.

"Your welcome," Sotto's gentle voice answered as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Be safe please. I'll be waiting for you when you come back."

Hiei looked back to her and blinked. She blinked too as they looked at each other, not knowing what to do. Hiei gently pressed his face into hers and kissed her. Sotto's eyes widened at first, but then closed as she gently returned the kiss.

Hiei pulled away soon— too soon for Sotto— knowing that he had to leave within a few moments. He blushed as he looked away from her. Sotto just smiled gently.

"I'll be waiting for you to come back," she said.

"I'll be back," Hiei answered as he began to walk off down the small street. Sotto just stood there at the fishing tree watching. She could only hope that Hiei would come back the same person, or even yet, come back alive. But somewhere in her heart, she knew that everything would turn out fine.

**00000000000**

"Wow," Yusuke said as he listened to Hiei finish his story.

"After the tournament when I got back, Sotto was near the tree waiting for me. A few days later Mikai came back from America and then you had to go and get yourself kidnapped. Within days after getting you back, Kurama met Mikai," Hiei said as he stood up.

"When did you ask Sotto to marry you?" Yusuke asked.

"Right before Mikai went back to America after Kurama had fallen for her." Hiei turned away. "I'm going back to the tournament."

"Good luck!" Yusuke laughed as the smaller demon walked away.

He looked back out to the Makai and sighed. He had seen another side to Hiei that he never really thought about before. Hiei was soon going to marry a person that he had fallen in love with and thought was worth enough to drag around if he had too. He had found another person to worry about, and another mouth to feed, which Yusuke thought would be impossible for Hiei to admit too but he had.

_I wonder if they've slept together?_ Yusuke asked himself without giggling after. Anyone Hiei slept with had to be close to his small heart.

"Yusuke-sama!" Hokushin called. "Come back! The next round of fights will be starting soon!"

Yusuke stood up and walked off to fight, even though a part of him wanted to stay and relax. Even though a part of him was scared somewhere inside of him, he continued to walk towards the tournament grounds.

* * *

Kurama still stood there in the hallway, holding Mikai closer then ever. As he did, he began to feel Mikai's body become weaker and weaker until she was at the point where she couldn't hold herself up.

"Kurama," Mikai whispered as she began to slide out of his arms.

"Mikai?" Kurama asked as he looked down at her to see her eyes begin to roll towards the back of her head. "Mikai!"

"K-Kurama," Mikai whispered as she fell down onto the ground, her vision of Kurama became blurry, and she felt her body hit the ground. Within seconds everything became black, and faded away.

* * *

R&R please! 


	12. Memory Within A Memory

I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or any of it's characters. I only own Mikai, Sotto, and Kith.

**000000000** Shows a flashback and when you see it again, the flashback has ended. Enjoy!

* * *

"The next round is about to start Yusuke-sama," Hokushin said as Yusuke walked up next to him and stood there with his arms crossed.

"It's about time," Yusuke said with a smile as he watched those around him getting ready to fight. He looked around, looking for his old teammates.

"Sir, do you know where Mikai is? I wanted to see her fight," Hokushin asked as he watched his master look around.

"I don't know." Yusuke sighed. "How do you know Mikai anyway?"

"Oh she came to see Raizen-sama before you came here," Hokushin said as he began to think about everything. "Raizen-sama told me that he asked her to come."

"What did they talk about?" Yusuke asked.

He wanted to know why Raizen and Mikai seemed to have something, something that Yusuke didn't understand. Mikai had always come to see him because she had to do something with Raizen. To say good-bye to him, to talk to him, anything and everything was about Raizen, never him.

Hokushin began to think back, and began to tell the new king about what he had witnessed in those days before Yusuke came into the Makai.

**00000000**

Hokushin and Raizen were both standing in front of the Great King Yemma, who had George by his side, asking for the return of Raizen's grandson of many years. Raizen wanted Yusuke back in to the Makai for reasons unknown to Hokushin, but he did notice that something was going to happen in the war over the Makai, for that day he had bumped into Mukuro and Yomi in Spirit world.

Raizen was just finishing his talk with King Yemma when a young woman walked into the room with a small blue bag over her shoulders. She stood behind Raizen, waiting for him to finish.

"Mikai." King Yemma said, no longer giving Raizen the attention he needed or deserved. "It's about time that you arrived. I have a new mission for you."

"Yes sir?" Mikai stepped forward, standing next to Raizen. He glanced over at her, but didn't get a look back.

"Everyone has been complaining about the young menaces, Yusuke Urameshi, the reborn Kurama, and Hiei. I want you to get rid of them all."

"No way." Mikai rolled her eyes. "I can't do that to them."

"What?" King Yemma asked in disbelief. "You know that refusing to do this mission will result in you being removed from your post."

"I don't care." Mikai laughed sarcastically. "Those three have saved this world over and over so I refuse to kill them! Besides that…I care too much about them to do something like that…"

Raizen broke out laughing. Everyone looked at him as he stood there, laughter escaping his mouth. It soon changed to a small chuckle as he turned his face towards Mikai.

"You know he's a demon right?" Raizen asked as he looked at Mikai. "That he carries the very demon blood that you, a Spirit detective, enjoy spilling so much?"

Mikai laughed a bit and looked away from the older demon. "I should have guessed that Yusuke was a demon, after all he made a great Spirit Detective, and we all know that the best heroes are the worst villains."

Raizen laughed once more as Hokushin looked on, confused. Raizen didn't seem to care that the person he was talking to was a human; the same kind of human Raizen had given up eating so long ago.

"Anyway." Mikai broke away from Raizen and looked back up at King Yemma. "If that's my mission then I quit."

"Sir," George said as he walked up next to King Yemma. "Remember who Kurama is to Mikai?"

"Ah yes…" King Yemma answered as he remembered Senkai and Youko Kurama's story. "Mikai, remember that Youko Kurama is a ruthless demon and even though the young Senkai deep inside of you loves him dearly, he is still a demon and he might turn his back to you one day."

Raizen twitched as he listened to what King Yemma had just said. _Senkai?_ Raizen thought. _Youko Kurama? Could it be her? The same little fox demon from the fire?_

"I wouldn't worry about that." Mikai smiled as she began to turn her back to King Yemma. "I'm going back to what I was doing before I came here. Oh yes."

She turned back around only this time her eyes were cold and emotionless. The warm brown eyes which Raizen has seen not minutes before were gone, now the cold blue ones Raizen had meet so long ago were back, and looking directly at King Yemma.

"Don't send anyone else out to kill Yusuke, Kurama or Hiei," she warned. "If you do send out an assassin, I'll kill the poor son of a bitch and then come after you."

King Yemma laughed. "Such a large threat from a small girl."

"Just because I'm small doesn't mean that my power isn't. As I do recall, someone I care for with all of my heart once said it best. 'Never corner a fox. We tend to show our teeth.'"

Mikai then turned back around, and walked out of the room, leaving everyone to him or herself. Some were worried, others stunned but Raizen. Raizen stood there, knowing that face and that attitude. He stepped forward and began to follow Mikai out of the room.

"Raizen-sama!" Hokushin called as he chased after his master.

Raizen walked out of the room and into the hallway were Mikai was walking, heading back to the Ningenkai. Mikai heard his footsteps and turned around to face him.

"That's such a large threat," Raizen said with a small laugh. "Can you really pull something like that off?"

"When people I care and love for are in trouble there isn't any limit to my power," Mikai answered.

He lowered his head and shook it a bit. There was still a lot she needed to learn, and yet there was something telling him that she would carry out that threat if was forced too. "Who are you?" Raizen asked, looking back up.

"Mikai…Mikai Akata."

Raizen chuckled. "I meant on the inside."

"Oh." Mikai sighed a bit. "I'm Senkai, partner of Youko Kurama."

"I thought so." Raizen looked away as memories ran through him. "Mikai, if you don't mind me calling you that."

"Go right ahead." Mikai smiled.

"I want you to come to the Makai so I can talk to you. Talking to you here would be too risky for both you and me. In one month, come to the Makai where I can talk to you."

"Hum." Mikai brought her hand to her chin, and cupped it. "Why should I? I mean I don't even know who you are, how can I trust you? And what makes me think that you're worth my time?"

"_I had never seen Raizen-sama act this way. I had no idea what he was trying to do or trying to get at. All I knew was that I, myself, had never seen her."_

"Raizen-sama," Hokushin called as he stood there, looking on.

"Quiet Hokushin," Raizen ordered. He then turned back to Mikai with a slight smile on his face. "Trust me, I'm someone you want to talk too."

"Agreed on," Mikai answered. "I'll meet you in the Makai. Your name would help though."

"Raizen."

"Raizen," Mikai tried it out. "Okay then, Raizen. I'll meet you in one month."

Raizen bowed his head as he turned his back to the younger woman, and she walked off, out of Spirit world. Hokushin stood by as his master caught up with him, and began to walk away with him towards the Makai.

"What was that about sir?" the bald monk asked.

"You'll find out when she arrives in the Makai," Raizen answered, silencing Hokushin immediately.

**00000000**

"And this was all before I came?" Yusuke asked as he looked at the bald monk. "How much more before I came?"

"Well she arrived in the Makai two months before you came," Hokushin answered. "I was the one who had to take her to Raizen-sama's tower just as I did you."

**00000000**

Hokushin was standing near the portal to the Ningenkai, waiting for the young visitor that Raizen has asked to come on month before. He still didn't know why Mikai was coming, but he did as he was told, and didn't ask too many questions now because he rarely ever got a real answer.

_I wonder what Raizen-sama wanted with this young woman from the Ningenkai._ Hokushin thought as he looked into the portal. He saw the blue liquid move a bit, and a young woman stepped through with a blue bag over her shoulder.

"Hokushin?" she asked as she looked at the bald man.

"Mikai?" he asked. She nodded her head.

"I'm here to see Raizen-sama," Mikai said as she looked at the world around her.

Everything was so strange, and yet she felt somewhat at home here. She figured that it must have been the demon genes, which were tugging away at her inside. Everything felt somewhat familiar to her, and yet she still felt like some kind of tourist if visiting the Makai could be place like that.

"Come this way." Hokushin turned his back towards the young woman and began to lead her towards Raizen's tower.

"Exactly how long is it going to take to get there?" Mikai asked as she began to walk faster then she normally did in order to keep with the bald man.

"Four days."

"FOUR DAYS!?" Mikai replied as she dropped her bag on the floor. "Damn! I didn't know it would take that long to get there!"

"Let's hurry then. Come, we have to walk towards the west," Hokushin said as he ignored Mikai's complains.

"The west." Mikai sighed. "Damn all I need is a green jeep and four hot guys."

"What?" the bald man asked.

"Nothin'." Mikai answered. "Well I've got the monk." She muttered as she began to run towards the west.

"_We made it there in five days. It took an extra day because Mikai said that she needed a break for whatever reason. But when we did get there, I brought her to Raizen-sama."_

"Raizen-sama," Hokushin said as he entered the room with a worn out Mikai behind him. "Mikai has arrived."

"Bring her in," Raizen answered.

Hokushin led Mikai in. She looked and saw that Raizen was sitting down with his legs parted, and his head hanging low; he hadn't bothered to look up to see her yet.

"Hey Raizen-sama," Mikai said happily as she walked into the room, still trying to catch her breath from running and then walking all the way up to his tower.

"You don't have to call me that," Raizen said with a smile as he looked up at the young woman standing in front of him. "You know I really didn't think that you'd show up here."

"Well I figured that if I didn't, you send baldy over there to come get me." Mikai grinned as she moved her thumb backwards, pointing towards Hokushin.

_She's highly disrespectful._ Hokushin thought.

"_I thought she was terrible. All of my thoughts about her changed as she spoke, and then I met you. You soon became first place on the disrespectful list with Mikai trailing behind you." _

Raizen laughed. "I would have."

Mikai giggled a bit. "So anyways, why did you ask to talk to me?"

"You were willing to do anything to protect Yusuke, Kurama, and Hiei. You even lost your job for them," Raizen said. "King Yemma just might turn everything back on you when you die and try to enter heaven."

Mikai blinked a bit as the thought ran through her. "Oh crap…I didn't think about that. Oh well." She sighed. "I guess…I'll have to do some really good crap before I die. But other then that, I should be happiest while I'm alive, here in the Makai or Ningenkai and in order to do that…I have to have those three, the people I care about the most with me or at least know that they're okay."

Raizen sat there, listening as flashbacks shot through him. That day he had found the lost Senkai in the burning building; she was protecting her comrade, which Raizen didn't recognize as a young Yomi. There in the fire, she didn't care about what happened to her, she just cared about Yomi being safe.

"Why do you care about Yusuke, Kurama, and Hiei?" Raizen asked.

"All of them mean a lot to me. Hiei's fallen for my sister of sorts, and Kurama and I have fallen in love…but Yusuke." Mikai looked away. "Yusuke and I have been together for awhile now and…" She held her stomach where she had taken a shot for him so many months ago. A sign to her, but scar to the outside world which showed how close the two were. "There's an unanswered question there but right now he's like my brother."

"Brother," Raizen repeated.

The memory of when he asked Senkai why she was protecting Yomi came back to him. She was standing in front of his fallen body, with both of her arms outstretched and a look of determination and of fear in her eyes.

**00000000 **

"Why shouldn't I kill this man or you?" Raizen asked as he looked at the smaller kitsune.

"Because he means too much to me! Please don't kill him!" Senkai yelled in response as a fiery pillar fell behind her.

_Why is she protecting him? She's protecting another demon, a demon that had gotten her in trouble there in the first place._ Raizen thought. The memory of watching Yomi run away from Youko Kurama's troop filled his mind. _Dumbass ran away, saying that he could find food on his own, and she left because she felt as if she needed him. She didn't want him to get hurt, she didn't want him to die when he left._

"Sen…Senkai," Yomi said weakly as he looked up at her.

"Stay there!" Senkai yelled. "I won't let you die! Even if I have to give up my life for you!"

Raizen was stunned by those words. Maybe it was because somewhere deep in his heart; he wanted someone to cling onto. In those moments he had spent with that woman back in her hut, he wanted nothing more then to be with her for forever. He never wanted anything to touch them, may it be time, or anything else. He wanted someone like this girl, someone like her to protect him, and be willing to die for him if she had too.

"It's too late for me," Raizen said as he placed his hand on the young kitsune's forehead. "But I know you'll make someone else happy with the power of this protection."

Senkai stood there, expecting the worst only to feel warmth on her forehead. Then, a wave of pain shot through her causing her to scream.

"SENKAI!" Yomi yelled as he watched.

A white light shot out from the hut, getting the attention of Youko Kurama who was watching nearby, making sure that Senkai would come back with or without Yomi.

"Damn," Youko hissed as he ran down towards the hut.

**000000000**

"Mikai," Raizen said as he looked up at her. "Watch those you love, and protect them all you can."

"I will." She smiled. "Is that all you called me here for?"

"I just wanted to see…if you were that demon I met so long ago," Raizen answered.

"So am I?"

"Yes."

"Oh good." Mikai laughed a bit. "Hopefully when more of Senkai's memories come back to me, I'll remember you."

Raizen laughed once more. "Do me another favor will you?"

"Sure."

"Watch over Yusuke for me."

"Why Yusuke?" Mikai asked out of curiosity.

"That way, you'll be happy," he answered, not telling her the whole truth. "People like you, who would do anything for people they love should never be alone."

"Aw thanks." Mikai smiled. "I'm just doing what my heart tells me. I'm gonna get back now okay? I have to get back to training. Next time I'm in the Makai, I'll say hi to you."

"I might not be here," Raizen said, shooting down all of Mikai's future plans.

"Oh…why not?" She hated herself to ask but the question slipped out before she could stop herself. She quickly covered her mouth and then bowed to the old king. "I'm sorry! I shouldn't have asked you something like that!"

"It's alright." Raizen moved his hand back and forth. "I haven't eaten a human in so long that I'm starving to death."

"Not eating humans?…" Mikai repeated. She knew that Raizen had eaten humans before, just as many demons did in the Makai, but she had no idea why he had stopped eating. "Why…have you chosen such a slow, painful death?"

"It's something." Raizen laughed a bit. "It's a reason worth dying for."

"Alright then." Mikai bowed once more. "I'm going back to the Ningenkai so if you're still around next time I'm in town, I'll pay you a visit."

"I look forward to it." Raizen smiled.

Mikai turned around, and faced Hokushin once more. "I can find my way back," she said gently. "Thank you for everything."

Mikai then stepped past Hokushin, and out of the tower, leaving Hokushin alone with his master. Neither of them said anything, as they listened to Mikai's footsteps slowly disappear into nothing.

**00000000**

"So you don't know why Raizen wanted to talk to Mikai?" Yusuke asked.

"No. Raizen-sama never gave me an answer for why he did what he was doing. I think he just wanted to make sure that the power he gave to the young kitsune that day hadn't died and that it had been given up wisely," Hokushin answered.

Yusuke turned back to the tournament and looked over it. He couldn't see Mikai, nor did he know where she was. But another question was running through Yusuke's mind, why didn't Mikai tell him what had happened when they first met? Why did she keep something like that a secret from him?

_"Unanswered question."_

_What is that supposed to mean?_ Yusuke thought as that sentence ran through him, overlapping all of his other thoughts. _What questions haven't we answered between each other?_

"Come Yusuke-sama," Hokushin called. "The next wave of the tournament is starting."

"Right." Yusuke nodded as he dismissed the whole idea. He had something else to worry about at the moment and couldn't afford for some wild idea to be bouncing around in his head.

_I'll talk to Mikai about everything later._ Yusuke thought. _Later.

* * *

_

R&R please!


	13. Last Stand Friendship

I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or any of its characters. I only own Mikai, Kith, Rinrei, and Sotto.

More chapters, more fun. Enjoy!

* * *

"Mikai!" Kurama called as he shook the fallen woman, trying to wake her. "Mikai! Mikai wake up!"

"Look what you've done now Kurama," Kith said as he walked over to Kurama with a gang of demons behind him. "Whatever it is I'll take care of it."

"What are you going to do?" Kurama asked as he held Mikai close to his chest, protecting her.

"Simple. Shigure is a doctor right? He'll be able to find out what's wrong with her. Maybe it's something simple, maybe it's not," Kith answered as two other demons stepped up from behind him and over to Mikai. "Don't worry, Yomi-sama would have my head if something bad happened to her."

Kurama moved, allowing the two strange demons to pick Mikai's body up. He then watched as they walked away down the dark hallway.

"Mikai has a battle soon right?" Kith asked as he looked at the red head.

"Yes. She's against Rinrei in block E," Kurama answered.

"Everything will be done by then don't worry." Kith smiled. He then turned his back, and began to walk down the dark hallway with Mikai's body.

_Mikai. Please be okay._ Kurama thought.

* * *

"Put her down here," Kith commanded as he pointed to a small white bed. The demons did as told and placed Mikai on the bed, and stepped away. "Shigure!" Kith yelled.

"What?" Shigure answered as he walked into the room.

"I need you to take a look at Mikai here," Kith answered as he pointed towards Mikai's body.

"What's wrong with her?" Shigure asked as he stepped forward and looked at the young woman. His right hand moved down to her neck and gently felt her pulse. It was normal.

"She fainted all of a sudden." Kith stepped forward to stand next to the large surgeon. "She has a battle coming up soon so we have to hurry up and wake her."

Shigure sighed. "She should wake up in a few moments. It's nothing big but the question is rather why did she faint."

"It's a long story." Kith sighed.

"You know why?" Shigure asked.

"Yes." Kith stepped away from Mikai's body. "There's something inside of her. Something I placed there. It causes pain, small pains such as pain in the wrist to come out of nowhere."

"And why would you do that? To make sure that you win the tournament?"

"No I haven't entered," Kith answered as he turned back around to face the blue haired man. "It's so that Mikai loses. But it won't fully activate until after she fights Yusuke, which we've planned her to. Once she beats Yusuke, the pain will be too much for her to go on and fight Yomi-sama. Once he wins the whole tournament, she'll see that Yomi-sama is the strongest fighter around and she'll go with him instead of that fox she's been crushing over for so long."

"A fight over love?" Shigure laughed. "What is the something you placed in her?"

"It's a small ball filled with cursed demon blood. Bit by bit pours into her and causes her pain. I placed it in her stomach since the scar tissue there was thick because of what she did for Yusuke over two years ago. Sad that her sacrifice for Yusuke has led to her beating him and leaving Kurama." Kith laughed.

"Clever." Shigure laughed. "I have to prepare for my own fight so I'm leaving. Mikai should wake up soon so don't worry."

Kith watched as Shigure walked out of the room. Kith turned back around towards Mikai. _Don't worry Mikai; I'm planning for your future._ He thought.

* * *

"Hiei…"

Hiei walked out of the room where he had been watching fights with Mukuro to see Sotto standing there with small beds of water under her eyes. This caught Hiei's attention immediately, and he was going to run to her but the setting around him reminded him of how he had to act.

"What's the matter?" Hiei asked controlling himself.

"I…I." Sotto chocked.

"Hiei?" Mukuro looked out of the room and towards the small man. "What's keeping you?"

"Hold on," Hiei hissed towards Mukuro. "What's the matter?" he asked once more.

"I can't do this anymore!" Sotto yelled as she gripped her fists. "I can't live like this I just can't! You promised everything would change three years ago and nothing has! I'm…I'm…done!"

Hiei stood there, taking everything in. He couldn't that Sotto was saying what she was. He wanted to run over to her and tell her that everything was okay but being where he was he knew his limits. With no idea what to do, Hiei fell onto his default emotion.

"You know I can't talk about this here," Hiei answered. "I'll talk to you later about everything."

"Hiei!" Sotto whimpered.

Hiei turned his back and began to walk back into the room where he had come from. He glanced back at the kitten he loved and felt hurt inside. "Mikai's battle is coming up. She needs your support right now."

"Right…" Sotto picked up herself. "Mikai…"

* * *

"Where?" Mikai mumbled as she opened her eyes slowly. "Where am…I?"

"It's about time." Kith laughed as he looked over Mikai's body. "Your battle with Rinrei starts soon."

"Crap!" Mikai jumped off of the small bed. "Thanks or whatever!"

Mikai began to run towards the door when she felt a pain shoot through her ankle. She stopped running and bent down, grabbing her ankle. She bit her lower lip as the large wave of pain crashed over her.

"Mikai?" Kith asked as he stepped forward.

"Fine." Mikai laughed as she stood up. "I'll see you later!"

She stood back up and began to run out of the door once more. Crap what the hell was that? Pain like that is usually in my wrist; it's never been in my ankle. What the hell is going on? Mikai thought.

As she ran down the hallway, she ran past Shigure who was standing against the wall with both of his arms folded across his chest.

"Mikai?" He asked causing her to stop running. "I'm about to tell you something you're not supposed to know."

"What?" Mikai asked, now out of breath.

"There's something inside of you, something causing you great pains. If you want to remove it, it's buried inside of your stomach." Shigure pushed himself away from the wall and walked towards Mikai.

"In…my stomach?" Mikai repeated as her left arm crossed her stomach. "Wait…why are you telling me this?"

"I know that you wish to fight Yusuke correct?"

"Yeah."

"Well a true fighter will want to fight someone with everything they have and as long as that small ball is inside of you, you will not be able to fight to your full potential." Shigure explained. "I discovered this and figured that it would only be right of me as a fighter to tell you."

_That's why. That's why everything hurts inside._ Mikai thought. _But is he telling the truth?_

"Will Mikai please report to the fighting platform?" A cold voice said over an intercom catching Mikai's attention.

"Crap." She turned away from Shigure. "Thank you. I'm trusting you."

"Good luck." Shigure laughed.

Mikai began to run down the hallway once more, hoping that Shigure had told her the truth. There was only one way to find out, and Mikai was about to test her theory the best she could.

"Where is she?" Yusuke asked himself out loud as he watched the large screen above him, waiting for Mikai's battle to begin. "They're going to call it a forfeit if she doesn't show up soon."

"Mikai! Mikai please report to the fighting platform!" Koto called into her microphone. "Well folks if Mikai doesn't show up soon I'm going to have to call this match Rinrei's!"

"Hold on!" Mikai yelled as she hopped down onto the platform. "I'm here!" She pushed her hair behind her as she caught her breath and looked over at her opponent.

Rinrei had long blond hair, and green eyes with determination behind them. On her body was a tight red outfit which showed off her figure well. In her hands was a long gray pole with demon writing on it that Mikai couldn't make out.

"You should have just forfeited the match while you could have." Rinrei said with a slight giggle. "You would have saved yourself so much pain."

"Whatever," Mikai hissed. She had too much on her mind at the moment to come up with some kind of witty comment to say back.

"Okay fighters! Ready Set!" Koto yelled getting herself ready to watch the fight. "Go!"

Mikai jumped to the side quickly, trying to watch what Rinrei was going to do. Rinrei did the same, and then she charged Mikai with her pole.

"Looks like Rinrei's going for a full on attack!" Koto yelled.

"Crap," Mikai mumbled. She moved to the side, avoiding Rinrei's pole attack barely. She moved her body closer to Rinrei's and managed to hit her in the face causing Rinrei to move backwards.

"If you're going to use a weapon I might as well also." Mikai said with a laugh as she held her right arm up in the air. "Spirit Sword!"

* * *

"When the hell did she learn that?" Hiei hissed as he watched. He felt a slight sting from having a memory of Kuwabara flood into his mind. He had forgotten how much he did miss the idiot. But as soon as Hiei thought of missing him, Kuwabara's idiotic attitude filled his mind and he forgot about missing him.

_Idiot._ Hiei thought.

* * *

_Kuwabara's Spirit sword…when did she learn that?_ Yusuke thought as he tired to remember. The only time he could recall Mikai being able to learn it was when Kuwabara had possessed her body so many years ago, back when things were simple.

"Hokushin." Yusuke asked as he faced the bald man. "If a person allows a soul to enter their body and the soul has powers does the host gain those powers?"

"Usually yes." Hokushin answered. "Because the host of the soul must have special powers in order to become possessed in the first place, the host usually doesn't let a soul leave without taking something from it. By taking a special attack or another personality perk, the host is stamped with a reminder and it acts as a homing device in case the wandering Spirit ever needs a place to stay again."

"Wow…" Yusuke turned back to the fight in awe._ Keep fighting Mikai…_ Yusuke thought. _Don't quit.

* * *

_

"I'm ready!" Mikai said with a grin of victory as she held her orange sword towards the other woman.

"Fine. Like I care," Rinrei replied as she looked away.

The two of them ran towards reach other both of their weapons out as they ran. Both of them didn't look as if they were going to give up the fight at all. Their weapons remained out as they closer and closer and soon, the sword met the pole in an argument.

Mikai growled as she looked Rinrei eye to eye. She hissed back as she pushed her pole against Mikai's sword, trying to get her to fall under the pressure. Mikai responded by pushing back.

"Looks like an old fashioned stand off people!" Koto yelled over her microphone.

_Hopefully the ball implanted in Mikai will activate soon._ Yoda thought as he watched the battle unfold.

_Damn._ Mikai hissed as she felt a sharp pain in her wrist. Her arm began to shiver with pain as she tried to keep her wrist up. The pain soon moved downwards towards her arm and towards her shoulder. _I can't keep holding this up! It's too much dammit!_

"There's something inside of you, something causing you great pains. If you want to remove it, it's buried inside of your stomach."

_I've got to get it! That damn thing in my stomach! I have to hurry!_

"I'm going to end this," Rinrei hissed with strain in her voice. She pushed back against Mikai's sword enough for her to back flip away from the other woman. She grinned and brought her right hand towards her face.

"Power cut!" she yelled loudly.

Mikai stood there feeling nothing only to have pain shoot through her. She yelled in pain as her abdomen cut open and began to bleed badly. Mikai brought her right arm down to hold her stomach and make sure that nothing would fall out.

"Damn!" Mikai cursed as blood spilled over her arm and onto the dirt floor.

"Mikai!" Yusuke yelled as he looked on. _Crap she's hurt! Now what the hell is she doing to do? She can't do anything acrobatic with a wound like that!

* * *

_

_Mikai…_ Kurama thought as his hands, which were placed on his lap, tightened together. He gritted his teeth as he watched Mikai wither in pain before him on a large screen, so far away from her and her pain.

_Give up if it hurts too much. This isn't worth killing yourself over. Don't die.

* * *

_

Mikai held her stomach as the blood fell out of it. She fell down to her knees and began to shiver from all of the trauma to her body. The Spirit Sword she had created soon faded, and she was left with no weapon and no way to defend herself.

"Good," Rinrei said with a smile as she looked over at Mikai. "And stay down."

Rinrei raised her pole once more, ready to attack Mikai and finish everything off to the point were she would be able to win only to hear Mikai laughing. She looked towards Mikai in question. The stadium followed, and grew silent waiting and watching for the reason why Mikai had began to laugh.

"Why?" Rinrei asked. "Why are you laughing?"

"Thank you," Mikai said as she stopped laughing. She stood back up, almost falling over but she caught herself.

"For what?" Rinrei hissed as she stepped forward, ready to keep attacking if she had too.

Mikai raised her right hand and brought it to her stomach. She then pushed her hand into her stomach and as blood poured past her hand, she moved her organs around, searching. She winced as she hit a small solid object.

"What is Mikai doing?" Koto asked out loud. "Could she possibly be planning another attack? But what kind of attack involves her moving her guts around?"

_Damn…she's not pulling it out is she?_ Yoda thought as he looked on, gripping his hands together.

* * *

_What the hell is she doing?_ Yusuke wondered as he watched. _Don't be doing something stupid Mikai…please don't.

* * *

_

_There!_ Mikai thought.

Everyone watched as Mikai pulled her hand out of her stomach along with a ball trapped in her hands. She began to shiver more intensely as she brought her left hand back up to her stomach to make sure that nothing would fall out.

"What the hell?" Rinrei asked, unimpressed by the other woman's actions.

"It's nothing." Mikai panted. "I'm just getting rid of a pesky problem which has been bothering me from a while now."

"So what?" Rinrei blew upwards, moving her hair up.

Mikai fell back down onto the ground, trying to catch her breath. She felt herself starting to get dizzy from all of the air she had lost so quickly. She gently placed her hand down onto the ground and spread her fingers around, feeling the dirt beneath them.

"Fine." Rinrei got back into a fighting position as if she were going to attack soon. "Get ready to die!"

Rinrei ran towards Mikai with her pole out, getting ready to hit her hard enough to either knock her out or kill her.

Mikai waited, and when she saw that Rinrei had stepped over a small puddle of blood, she acted as quick as she could. Her fingers quickly pressed down into the dirt with immense pressure, and she brought the power from her Spirit to her fingers.

"Earth Spirit rise!" Mikai yelled.

Pieces of earth shot up from the ground and threw Rinrei high into the air. Mikai watched as Rinrei came down onto a spike of earth and it pierced her through her stomach. Mikai sighed as she stood back up, claiming her victory.

"And because of a spike and quick spell Mikai is the winner!" Koto yelled over the intercom as demons both booed and cheered.

* * *

Mikai came back to the stadium to people who were waiting for her. Before she had seen anyone, Shigure had taken her into the back room and wrapped up her wounds the best he could. She was now allowed to roam around freely, as she waited until her next battle.

"Mikai?" Kith asked as Mikai walked down a hallway towards the main stadium were she would watch Jin, and Touya fight.

"What?" Mikai hissed as she looked over at him.

"I'm…I'm…" Kith looked away in shame.

"Don't say it," Mikai hissed, causing Kith to look back up. "I know it was you…Shigure told me everything and the only reason I'm telling you this is because Shigure is going to die so I know you can't hurt him." Mikai turned around and looked back at Kith. "I'm not going to forgive you for anything."

"What?" he asked in shock.

"I can't."

"You have too! We've been friends forever! You can't let this stupid little thing come between us!" Kith yelled in defense.

"I don't have to do anything!" Mikai yelled, silencing Kith. "You bastard! You betrayed me! You wanted to hurt me so that I could be with someone I hate like Yomi? What the hell is wrong with your logic?"

"Mikai I was doing what was best for you!" Kith yelled back.

"I know what's best for me and that's not it!" Mikai turned away. "Never do anything for me again…I'm fine with the people I have and want right now…and I don't need people who are going to try and hurt me because of what they think is right. So…I want nothing to do with you anymore…Kith."

Those words hurt Kith. Mikai had been his only true friend through everything and yet here he was trying to do something for her but he messed up. He screwed up. He had hurt Mikai in a way that he couldn't fix…and now…it was all too late.

"I'm going back…back to the tournament." Mikai said. "Bye."

Kith stood there, watching Mikai walk away from him. She was leaving and there was nothing he could do to stop her. He opened his mouth to speak but instead, he stopped. He figured that the best thing he could do was let Mikai go and hope for the best.

_Good luck…Mikai…_ Kith thought as he turned around and listened to Mikai walk away. It wasn't until he couldn't hear Mikai's footsteps anymore that he began to walk down the hallway, filling it with his own footsteps.

* * *

R&R please! 


	14. Wishy Washy Feelings

I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or any of it's characters. I only own Mikai and Sotto.

Last chapter of this upload! Please enjoy!

* * *

"Mikai!" Yusuke yelled as he watched Mikai walk out of a long hallway and towards him. "You did it!" He cheered as he ran over to her and hit her on the head playfully.

"I know," she said gently. She smiled, and even though it looked okay to the world, Yusuke could see that it was an empty, melancholy smile. "Did you figure out what Rinrei did? I couldn't figure out how she cut me. She never made contact with me." Mikai asked, changing the subject.

"She didn't have too," Hokushin said, cutting in with information. "When her pole hit your clothes when she first attacked you, it placed a sort of homing device on you. So when she called out the name, the device exploded."

"How do you know this?" Mikai asked as she looked at him.

"It's an old demon trick," Hokushin answered. "Some demons use touch but she used her pole."

"Damn," Mikai said in amazement as she looked towards Yusuke. "You're lucky you've got someone smart on your side."

"Really." Yusuke giggled.

"Mother!" Shura called as he ran over to Mikai with Yomi by his side. "Mother you won!" He called out.

"Shura!" Mikai said in a motherly tone as she bent her knees down so she could be at eye level with the smaller demon.

Shura ran over to Mikai and wrapped his arms around her neck. Mikai squeezed Shura gently and let go as he pulled away and looked down towards her stomach, which had a few bloodstains, which soaked through her bandages.

"Does it hurt?" Shura asked.

"Not so much." Mikai giggled. She brushed Shura's black hair out of his face lovingly and smiled. "How are you?"

"Fine."

"Mikai," Yomi said as he walked over in front of Mikai, getting everyone's attention. "Kurama's battle is coming up soon."

"I know." Mikai stood up. "I'll be watching."

"Very good."

"Mother," Shura called as he tugged on Mikai's right arm. "I have something I want to show you."

"Okay hold on." Mikai looked back up at Yusuke, and he watched as the mother like eyes he had just seen disappeared. They became the ones that he had seen the day after her fight with Seme, the blank, empty eyes.

"I'll meet up with you later to watch Touya's battle," she said to Yusuke. "Alright?"

"Sure. I'll be watching it from the room where Chuu is staying." Yusuke smiled.

Mikai was then pulled away by Shura' little arm into the dark hallway where she had just came from. Yusuke watched as she disappeared and Yomi followed, not even moving his head towards Yusuke in some kind of recognition.

* * *

Shura led Mikai into a small room where he showed her one of his new moves and told his story of what happened during his fight with his father. After he had finished, Yomi had asked him to leave the room so he could talk to Mikai alone. Shura obeyed, as always, and left the two of them alone.

"What?" Mikai hissed as she crossed her arms.

"How did you find out about the object the Kith placed in you?" Yomi asked.

"Shigure told me." Mikai laughed. "And the only reason I'm telling you who told me is because Shigure's going to die in the fight with Kurama."

"And how do you know that?"

"It's an educated guess," Mikai snarled. "Besides, he told me that he didn't care who I told. But answer me this, did you know about this?"

Yomi sighed. "I knew many things and I knew more then anyone else."

"How dare you!" Mikai yelled. "You bastard! You knew I was in pain and you knew that I was suffering everyday and you did nothing to stop it just so you could rule the Makai?"

"I had one plan but thanks to Yusuke everything has changed," Yomi said as he moved his head away from the younger woman.

"What the hell was that plan?!" Mikai yelled, feeling herself almost becoming hysteric. She couldn't believe that someone could do something like this to someone else for his or her own selfish reasons.

"The original plan was for you to fight Yusuke because both of your powers come from the same source, Raizen. I hoped that by the end of the years that's you'd be stronger then him, and you would kill him. By then the little ball would have been inside of you and the pain after the fight would have overwhelmed you so that you wouldn't be able to rebel against me if you wanted after all of the emotional trauma from killing your friend," Yomi explained. "But when Yusuke promoted the new tournament everything changed. You now had to enter as your own person, representing only yourself instead of a kingdom. So I changed my plans so that you would fight Yusuke, win, and then the pain would drag you down too far to fight me."

"And then what?!" Mikai yelled. "You're doing everything for yourself! You've been fighting this war for so long that you set out plans so that you wouldn't lose when the rules were changed you bastard! You could have done whatever the hell you wanted if you hadn't fucked around with my life and the people I love lives!"

"I wanted to rule the Makai with you," Yomi answered.

"What?"

Yomi walked over to Mikai carefully, and wrapped his arms around her neck. He moved his mouth so that it was near her ear, letting her hear him breath in and out. Mikai shivered, the bit inside of her, Senkai, began to tug at her. She wanted to embrace Yomi back, and tell him that she loved him, but Mikai couldn't.

"Yomi-sama…stop," Mikai whimpered as she tried to remove his embrace. She closed her eyes and pulled away as hard as she could only to open her eyes once more to find that she was in the same position.

_Dammit not again! Please not this time!_ Mikai thought as she began to shiver.

"I wanted to rule the Makai with you. I wanted you by my side as I rule over all three worlds because," Yomi whispered gently. "I love you."

Mikai felt those words hit her deeply, and everything changed within her. All of his motives became clear, and it hit something inside of her hard. She felt herself lose her body, and she changed into the young kitsune buried inside of her.

"Yomi," Senkai whispered as she wrapped her arms around Yomi, gripping the back of his tunic as she pressed her body against his. "Yomi…I…"

"What?" he asked as he laced his fingers through her hair, feeling the hair he used to run his fingers through so many years ago. It still felt the same, almost mocking him, making him think that everything was the same but he couldn't see it, any of it.

"I'm sorry," she whimpered. "For everything."

Yomi pulled away from the embrace and picked up Senkai's face. She blinked, and looked up to were his eyes used to be and found that she missed looking into them. Yomi pushed his face down towards Senkai's, and their lips met.

_Stop it Senkai stop!_ Mikai called out from inside._ He hurt you and you're going to fall right back into his arms? What the hell is wrong with you? Can't you see that Kurama is the one?_

_Kurama…My Youko._ Senkai thought. _I spent so much time looking for you…and once I found you…everything was perfect. Here I am now…but I'm not with Kurama…I'm with Yomi._

_It's wrong!_ Mikai yelled. _Yomi wants you now that he has power! What happens if he loses everything? Will he throw you away once more? Youko loves you no matter what! _

_Youko…_ Senkai thought.

Senkai pulled away from the kiss and looked away from the blind demon. He felt her fingers gently release his tunic, and eventually her hands fell away from him.

"What?" he asked.

"Yomi…" Senkai sniffled. "I'm sorry…I can't"

Senkai ran away from Yomi, opened the door where she had come in as Mikai, and ran down the hallway. She couldn't look at the person she was being so cruel too. She was being ruthless and cold when it came to his feelings and only cared about what she wanted and she hadn't realized that until he said that he loved her. She only clung to Yomi because of what happened in the past, and couldn't see that there was something blocking her from making her own choices.

Mikai.

She was no longer her own person. She was merely a parasite and she was causing Mikai to feel things that she never had before. She knew that Mikai loved Kurama, and that was because of her and as she realized this, she found out that she didn't really love Yomi, but instead she was dragging him along because she missed Youko so much. It was no excuse, but it was the only reason for her actions and the only one she could see as tears ran down her face.

_I'm…so sorry._ Senkai thought.

* * *

Yusuke walked into the screening room where he had promised to meet Mikai. He walked towards the front of the crowd and saw that Chuu was standing there, watching Touya fight.

"Hey Chuu," Yusuke said as he stood next to him. "How's it looking?"

"Fine," the blue haired man answered. "Touya doesn't seem to be having any problems."

"That's good." Yusuke looked around, trying to see if he could find Mikai somewhere in the crowd.

_Damn where the hell is she?_ Yusuke thought.

"Lookin' for someone?" Chuu asked, noticing that Yusuke wasn't paying attention to the screen in front of him.

"Mikai. She told me that she would be here to watch Touya." Yusuke answered with a sigh. He turned back to the screen, feeling somewhat defeated. "She's probably out with Kurama or Yomi." He snarled.

"Oh." Chuu grinned, catching Yusuke's snarl. "Jealous are we?" He teased as he hit Yusuke on his right side.

Yusuke blushed as he pushed Chuu away. "No."

"Whatever you say Yusuke!" Chuu laughed as he walked away, leaving the new prince alone in the room.

* * *

Minutes later, Kurama walked into the room where Yusuke was watching Touya fight. He stood next to Yusuke and let the same light flooding off of the TV to hit him as well. They spoke about Touya's fight, and how they thought everything was going to go. Kurama told Yusuke about what happened earlier when Kurama met Touya in the hallway and talked to him about his feelings towards his fight. But now, the two had fallen quiet, and the battle in front of them filled their minds and their conversation.

"How's Mikai?" Yusuke asked, breaking the silence between them.

"I don't know," Kurama confessed. "I haven't seen her for a while now. Don't you know how she is? You saw her earlier didn't you?"

"Yeah but just for a few seconds." Yusuke sighed. "Then that kid Shura took her away." Then the question Yusuke placed in his mind before the fights popped back into his head. "Oh! That kid that looks like Yomi, is that Mikai's kid?"

"Shura?" Kurama asked, trying to get the right person named. "No he's not Mikai's son, Yomi just has Mikai as the mother figure in his son's life right now."

"And you're okay with that?" Yusuke asked with a slight laugh. He knew Kurama was nice but he didn't think that Kurama wouldn't have some hint of jealously tugging at him inside.

"It's the best for Shura." Kurama sighed. "But I am a bit jealous."

"Hey…" Yusuke turned to Kurama, and the red head could see that Yusuke was now serious about everything. "I heard that fight you and Mikai got into right after the Shura kid's fight and…I just wanted to know if you guys were okay…"

"We'll be fine," Kurama said as he smiled. "Just fine."

* * *

Mikai was running down the hallway, soon after she had reverted back to her human self. She was heading towards the stadium to watch Touya fight but while she was running, she spotted a small kitten in the corner with her head down.

"Sotto!" Mikai yelled as she ran over to her and bent down to the floor to meet her eye to eye. "What's wrong? Why are you in your kitten form?"

The small kitten looked upwards with small water beads under her eyes. Mikai already knew that something was wrong because whenever Sotto got upset, she reverted back to her animal demon form, which happened to be a small kitten.

"Come on talk to me," Mikai said as she petted the small kitten.

A white puff of smoke appeared, causing Mikai to cough, and when it all cleared Sotto was sitting there with small tears falling form her eyes.

"What's wrong?" Mikai asked as she pushed away all of the smoke.

"It's Hiei!" Sotto cried. "I can't be with him anymore!"

"Aw…Sotto," Mikai said lovingly. "Everything will be fine. Hiei loves you with all of his heart. If he didn't then he wouldn't have asked you to marry him."

"I can't keep living in secret like this," Sotto whimpered.

"I understand." Mikai sighed. "Hiei's trying to protect you from getting hurt because he knows that if you get hurt or killed that he'll never forgive himself or the person who did it. I don't think that Hiei could live without you…he's told you that. I can also see were you're coming from through, but for now everything has to be put on hold. Until this tournament is over, nothing is for sure okay?"

"Okay…" Sotto wiped her tears.

"Just keep being strong okay?" Mikai smiled. "You be strong…and I will too."

"Right." Sotto smiled a bit. "But just make sure that you remember to take care of yourself okay?"

Mikai stood up, and helped the kitten to her feet also. "Don't worry. There's a lot of things on my mind right now but I won't forget what's important. And that's why I have to go right now."

Sotto nodded, not knowing why Mikai had to leave. Mikai turned away from the kitten and ran down the hallway she was before, but this time she had a different. She turned a corner in the wrong direction.

"Mikai!" Sotto yelled. "You're going the wrong way!"

"Don't worry!" Mikai yelled back before she disappeared.

"What is she doing?" Sotto asked herself out loud as her right cat ear twitched.

* * *

"Will everyone please report to a viewing station?" Koto yelled over the intercom. "The next fight, Kurama vs. Shigure will begin in just a few moments!"

_Oh._ Sotto thought as everything became clear. _That's were she's going._

Dust rose off of the ground as Kurama walked towards his next battle, which would be against Shigure. He had just finished talking to his mother no more then a few minutes ago and his heart ached to see her once more.

The closer Kurama got to the large battle platform; he could see another figure walking towards him. He didn't recognize it at first but it became clear within moments who it was. Yomi.

They didn't say anything as they walked by each other, but once they began to part, Yomi spoke.

"Kurama I hope you do well in this battle," he began, "Thanks to Yusuke, I've changed a lot. I know see where I truly stand. There's more on the line then just your life you know. This battle will allow you to see whom you really are inside. People change Kurama…"

"I know that Yomi," Kurama answered as he began to walk once more.

"Senkai rejected me," Yomi said; Kurama to stopped walking. "She loves you with all of her heart and I can see that now…I just don't understand it."

Kurama closed his eyes and waited until he heard Yomi's footsteps before he began to walk towards the fighting platform once more. He thought about what Yomi had just said, and understood it. Yomi had confessed his love for Senkai but she turned him away which meant that Senkai really did love Youko under everything.

"Kurama?" a female voice said, breaking through all of his thoughts. He turned around towards the voice and saw Mikai standing on his right side. She slowly walked over to him, and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"You'll win," she said gently. "And I'm not talking about against Shigure…"

Kurama smiled a bit, and wrapped his arms around her tightly. He took in the smell of her hair once more, and felt how her clothes felt against his skin. He felt her breath on his neck, and relived the feelings he loved so much.

"But if something does happen in there." she whispered. "I'll love you no matter what."

Kurama pulled away from the hug and gently kissed Mikai on the forehead. He felt her fingers gently release his clothing, letting him go. She pulled away completely, and gave him one last look before she ran away from him. Kurama didn't watch, instead he walked forwards, towards his own battle.

"Begin!" Koto yelled, telling Kurama and Shigure to begin their fight.

They fought over and over, each other them hurting one another as they both attacked. Even though Kurama was silent, his mind was full of thoughts. He kept reliving his childhood over and over again, thinking about his mother and how he had growing up thinking that she was below him and yet no matter what she never gave up on him. He thought of his mother's arms and how they scars covered them because of the time she saved him from falling to the hard, cold floor. Then Yusuke filled his mind. He had been so helpful and was ready to give up his life so that Kurama could live for his mother.

_I owe all of them so much._ Kurama thought. _All of them, Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Hiei…each one of them have been so loyal and kind to me no matter what I was going through._

Kurama then thought of what they would think if he gave up everything. If he reverted back to his Youko form and lived in the Makai away from everyone. His mother, or course, would be the one who would be more upset then anyone else, but what about everyone else?

Yusuke wouldn't care as long as Kurama was happy and safe, Kuwabara would be upset but happy that Kurama found something that would make him happy, and Hiei wouldn't mind because he knew that he would see Kurama around and hear about him once in awhile. But would anyone protest? Would anyone miss him and want him back?

"I love you too," Kurama whispered. "I'll never leave you."

Mikai.

"_Almost everyone I've met in my life has left me. My parents left without giving a reason why…Yusuke has been the only one who's never left my side unless he's had too. I never want any of you to leave."_

She would want him back, and she would be the one to protest if he wanted to stay in the Makai. A part of him wanted her to be happy for him if he did decide to stay in the Makai, and yet the other part of him wanted her to protest and hold him close. She would be the one who would tell him that she missed him, and would call him to make sure that he knew when to come home and that's what he wanted, someone to come home to. And that's why he had to keep fighting…as Shuuichi.

The fight went on, and it wasn't until Kurama had come close to death and reverted back to Youko once, that he realized that it was Shuuichi that he wanted to be. He wanted to cut lose Youko and live as Shuuichi with the people he loved.

Kurama felt Shigure's sword cut him once more, and then Shigure went in for the kill. Kurama, even though blood was spilling out of him, caused a plant he planted back as Youko Kurama to grow around both him and Shigure. Shigure's sword got caught in the branches, inches away from Kurama.

"Are these flowers from your homeland?" Shigure asked as the light pink cherry blossoms fell in front of his face, creating a gentle smell.

"Yes," Kurama answered as he grabbed a small blossom in the palm of his hand. He feel and smell reminded him of the tree in the backyard of his home. An image of his mother filled his mind as he smiled a bit.

"Very good." Shigure smiled. "I've already failed Mukuro-sama and a warrior cannot fail twice." He walked over to the edge of Kurama's plants, and jumped down into the dark pit below never to come back out.

Yusuke, Botan, Koenma, Hiei, and Mikai ran out towards the battlefield in order to see Kurama and make sure that he was okay. The dust blew in front of them all, shielding them all from who was walking through the field.

"Who is that?" Hiei asked as he saw someone walking towards them.

"Is it Kurama?" Botan asked.

"Who else could it be?" Mikai asked as she ran out to the field ahead of everyone else.

There in the field stood Kurama and Yomi. Yomi was walking slowly, while he held Kurama up so that he wouldn't fall to the ground and become more injured.

"Why did you abandon Youko Kurama?" Yomi asked.

"Never abandon anything Yomi…never." Kurama groaned through his pain as he looked ahead and saw that was Mikai coming.

"Kurama!" she yelled as she ran. She arrived next to the two and gently touched Kurama's face, making him feel a bit better. "Come on, we've got to get you healed."

"I'll be fine," Kurama groaned once more as he stood up on his own. "Save your energy."

"Thank you," Mikai said as she looked up at Yomi gently. Mikai wrapped both of her arms around Kurama as she led him back to the stadium were he would be able to heal.

Yusuke stood there, looking at Mikai and Kurama walk back over to the stadium, arm in arm only to feel a strange feeling rise from the pit of his stomach and travel quickly towards his throat.

_Mikai…?_ Yusuke thought as he tried to figure out the feeling inside of him. _Would you do something like that…for me?

* * *

_

R&R please!


	15. Promising The Future

I don't own YYH or any of it's characters. I only own Mikai, Sotto, Kith, and Renrei.

Update yay! So as normal **000000** means a flashback and when you see it again, that means that the flashback is over. Enjoy!

* * *

"Stay here," Mikai said gently as she placed the injured red head down onto the ground. She kneeled down towards Kurama's face and gently touched the cut across his stomach caused by Shigure's sword. A small aqua blue light came from her hand and slowly Kurama's wounds began to heal.

"Don't," Kurama said firmly as he grabbed Mikai's wrist and pulled it away from his stomach. "You have another battle coming up and I don't want you to waste any of it on me."

"It's not wasting!" Mikai protested. "I have to close some of it! Shigure isn't around to heal you like he did me and you can't let that wound get infected!"

"Heal just a bit then," Kurama groaned as a wave of pain ran through him. Mikai caught him grinding his teeth together to keep himself from screaming and then began to heal his stomach quicker.

"Mikai," Sotto's voice said gently as Mikai turned her head, following the voice until she spotted the kitten standing there with a nervous look on her face.

"Sotto!" Mikai almost jumped up to make sure that she was okay but stopped, remembering where she was. "You okay?"

"Hiei's battle is starting," Sotto almost whispered.

"Really?" Mikai and Chuu asked at the same time.

"Who's he fightin'?" Jin asked as he looked at the screen.

"Mukuro," Kurama answered weakly.

"Mukuro?" Sotto repeated softy.

"This is going to be interesting," Touya said with a slight smile as he looked back up towards the screen, waiting for everything to begin.

* * *

"This should be interesting," Koenma said as he looked on and got ready to watch the fight.

"Why is that sir?" George asked as he looked up at his master in wonder.

"It looks like this fight is going to be a fight not outside but on the inside, for both of them," Koenma explained.

The three of them looked out towards the large screen in front of them and got ready to watch a fight, which would do more then just determine the fate of the fighters here in the battlefield, but outside as well.

* * *

"Group D's next fight will be Hiei versus Mukuro!" Koto announced. "This should be a great fight and as we can see, Hiei's already on the battle field, getting himself ready for it!"

Everyone turned up to see Hiei standing on the fighting platform, waiting for Mukuro. Small footsteps echoed through the empty land, and Hiei turns his head and saw that Mukuro was walking up to him. He grunted a bit and got himself ready.

"Please Kurama!" Jin begged.

"You have to go to the doctor," Rinku insisted as he tugged on Kurama's right arm. "Your wounds are going to get any better."

"I want to stay," Kurama protested. "I want to watch the fight between Mukuro and Hiei."

"Don't worry," Mikai said gently as she touched another one of Kurama's wounds. "Kurama will make it past this but Kurama?"

"Yes?" he asked as the aqua light engulfed Mikai's hand once more.

"Go to the doctor after Hiei's battle."

"I'll agree to that," Kurama said with a smile.

Mikai smiled back at him, as her energy drained and entered Kurama's body, fixing the wounds the best she could. Mikai turned around once and saw that Sotto was watching the screen closer then anyone else in the room. Her hands were cupped together in front of her face as the screen's light reflected off of her eyes.

_He'll be fine._ Mikai thought as she smiled. _Don't worry._

"You told me you don't have a reason to keep on living," Mukuro said as Hiei took his katana out of his sheathe. "So did you find a reason?"

"I'm not looking for an answer," Hiei hissed.

The two began to fight while things ran through their minds. Mukuro thought of how deeply Hiei had touched her because of his will to live, which was much like her very own. She thought of her past and how much it still haunted her even though it was so far behind her. Meanwhile Hiei began to speak.

"Haven't you freed yourself from your disgusting past yet?" he hissed as he tried to slash her but failed.

_I didn't think I knew what love was._ Hiei thought. _Both you and I have never been loved but I finally knew what affection was. Instead of being the one who was always looked at as revolting by the people and demons passing by, I found someone who looked at me differently, someone who cared. I still can't understand why you and I got along so well._

Hiei's sword finally cut the clothing around Mukuro's neck. "You and I only live to fight you hear me?" he yelled.

That was the only thing in his life, which had saved him so many times. Fighting. Fighting was the only thing Hiei knew and was the only thing he lived by. It had fed him over and over and it had given him a place to sleep at night. Nothing else in his life had ever been so helpful and nothing else had ever protected him.

Mukuro jumped high into the air and soon Hiei was surrounded by red energy, which he began to slice with his katana. He felt bits of rock and ground hit him and slices his arm causing him to bleed. He hopped away from it all and landed on his feet and looked up at Mukuro.

"Why aren't you fighting me with everything you have?" Hiei hissed. "What's holding you back?"

"Enough," Mukuro warned.

"You don't have a special technique." Hiei yelled. "You mean nothing!"

Mukuro landed on the ground and forced her hand up into Hiei's stomach while she pushed her energy into it. Hiei took the hit hard, flying backwards and hitting the mountain behind the two. He rolled down it and when he reached the bottom, he struggled to stand up as his black tank top fell to pieces around him.

"Damn," he hissed as he ripped off his tank top. A black fire came around him as he closed his eyes and held up his right arm.

"That Dragon Of The Darkness Flame," Kurama whispered as he watched. "Hiei…"

"Hiei," Sotto whimpered. "Please…be careful."

"If you come from the Ice Land it's ironic how your power comes from flame." Mukuro said as her energy formed around her, getting ready to counter Hiei's attack if it over powered her at anytime.

"It's hated," Hiei hissed as he unwrapped his bandages.

"Hatred?" Mukuro repeated as she frowned. "But I thought you didn't hold grudges."

Hiei held out his arm ready to attack only to see something shimmer in the light from the sky above.

A simple, golden ring.

He stopped. He had forgotten to give his ring to Kurama when he had seen him not moments before. Fighting had taken over his mind and he had forgotten Sotto and his promise to her. And then it all hit him. Sotto was the person in his life, which tied him down to the world around him because he let her. Besides fighting, she was the only thing that had been there for him over and over and she was the only one who took care of him when something went wrong. She made sure that he was alive.

A memory filled his mind. The small thing, which meant a lot to him which happened the day after his return from the Dark Tournament with Yusuke, Kurama, and Kuwabara.

**0000000**

Hiei walked down a busy street not sure of were to go but soon he found himself walking towards the river and in a matter of minutes he found himself walking towards the fishing tree where he had met Sotto before he left to fight.

He stood near the tree with his hands in his pockets and peeked around the tree's trunk and then sighed. He shook his head. Was he just looking for the small kitten? Why did he care if she really would be there when he got back? He didn't need anyone else and he didn't rely on anyone to keep his or her promises to him.

"Hiei!" a happy voice said. Hiei looked up and saw Sotto sitting in the tree above him with a smile. She jumped down and landed gracefully on her feet. "How are you?" She asked.

He blinked. She had really shown up. She acutely had been waiting for him to show up but for how long, Hiei didn't know.

"Fine," Hiei hissed.

"Good," Sotto said gently. She turned around and when she turned back around she had a small, blue box in her hands. "Here it's for you."

Hiei looked at the small box and reached out to take it. As he gripped it, Sotto's hand touched his right hand and he felt the burnt skin there shoot pain through his arm. He began to drop the box but Sotto caught it and looked at him.

"Are you hurt?" she asked as she placed the box on the floor.

"No," he hissed as he looked away.

Sotto gently picked up Hiei's hand only to hear him hiss a bit. She began to unwrap his hand and saw that the skin there was now replaced with a black tattoo and the rest was now black, recovering skin.

"What happened?" She asked gently. "You didn't take care of it at all."

"I didn't have time too," Hiei answered. He stopped. He just gave someone a reason for not taking care of himself. He didn't have to give anyone a reason for anything and yet he felt as if he had to tell Sotto everything.

"We'd better clean this out," Sotto said as she grabbed the small box she had given Hiei, and took Hiei down the street, towards the house she and the young Mikai shared. "It's going to get infected."

Sotto dragged Hiei into the apartment Hiei had seen just for a few moments when Mikai had healed him before he left for the tournament. Sotto took him down a small hallway and into a bathroom. She walked over towards a white sink and turned on the water and waited until Hiei saw a bit of steam come from the faucet.

"What are you doing?" he hissed.

"Cleaning it," Sotto answered as she turned on the cold water to cancel out some of the hot water. "Here it's ready."

Sotto placed Hiei's arm under the water and he felt it slip between his wounds. He hissed as he looked away and gripped his fist. Sotto grabbed the small bar of soap that was on the counter and began to rub it up and down Hiei's arm.

"Damn," he hissed once more as he felt a small stinging sensation.

Sotto ran the soap bar over Hiei's arm until she saw that the dead skin had washed away and the skin there looked a bit lighter. She rinsed Hiei's arm off once more and then took it out of the sink and wrapped a towel around it.

"Come on," Sotto said as she pulled Hiei out of the bathroom and into the living room. She sat down on the white couch and Hiei did the same. She gently began to dry off Hiei's arm until it was dry.

"I'll be right back." Sotto stood up and disappeared back into the hallway.

Why was he here? He could have easily escaped Sotto's little grip and ran to a place where he could be alone but no, he was here with the kitten who was cleaning out his wounds once more, and making sure that he was okay.

Sotto came back into the room with a roll of bandages in her hand as well as a small tube of medicine in her hands. She sat down next to Hiei once more and took his hand. She opened the tube and pushed down on it until a small white liquid came out of it.

"What's that?" Hiei hissed not liking anything foreign on his wounds.

"It's medicine," Sotto answered. "It'll make your wounds heal faster." Sotto began to rub it on Hiei's wounds as he winced once more. She rubbed it up and down his arm and got it everywhere she could in order to make sure that everything was taken care of.

"There." She smiled. "Now all that's left is wrapping up your hand." She looked up at Hiei with questioning eyes. "Do you trust me enough to do it for you?"

Hiei spoke before he gave his mind the time to think the question over. "It doesn't matter. Just wrap my arm."

She smiled and unraveled the white bandages using her teeth. She took Hiei's pinky and began to wrap it up gently and soon began to work on his arm.

"I work in Spirit World now," Sotto said gently.

"Hn." Hiei looked away. Spirit World was the last thing on his mind right now. He had paid his debt to them and he didn't want anything to do with them anymore.

"So I might not be around as much," Sotto continued. "So if you want to see me you'll have to go up there."

"Why don't you come down here?" he asked.

A part of him felt stupid for wanting to see her again but he didn't want to not see her anymore. After all, she intrigued him for she was the only one who cared about what happened to him outside of his fighting team.

"You want me too?" Sotto asked as she looked up into Hiei's eyes. Hiei looked away only to find himself blushing. "Okay then! I'll be down here every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday!"

The young woman reached up towards Hiei's face and gave him a small peck on his red cheek. Hiei blushed harder as he felt the small kiss.

"Hn."

**0000000**

She cared and he wasn't keeping his promise to her. She promised to be there when he came back from the tournament and she was there, she promised to come down to the Ningenkai on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays and she did. She always kept her promises to him, and yet he never did it for her.

"Hiei?" Mukuro asked, waiting for him to come out of his memories and back into the battle.

"What's with Hiei and his pause?" Koto yelled. "Could he be building up his power or is it something else?"

"Mukuro," Hiei began, "I have something I want to tell…everyone."

"Hiei this is hardily the place or time," Mukuro said as she looked at him with questions in her eyes.

Hiei looked forward towards the ring on his finger. "I want to tell…everyone… that…I've found a reason to live. She's given me more then I could have ever asked for and for that I asked her to tie my life to mine. My reason to live…is not fighting…but Sotto."

"Hiei," Mukuro said breathlessly.

"Did Hiei just admit that he has a fiancé?" Koto announced. "Well it looks as if everyone can find love people! This is so romantic!"

* * *

"Hiei-chan," Sotto said as she fell onto her knees in shock.

"Way to go little man!" Chuu said happily as he looked towards the screen. "I didn't know that the little man had found himself a little lady!"

"Wait," Touya said as he blinked. He looked towards Sotto and remembered her name. "Isn't that Sotto?"

"Sotto he did it!" Mikai cheered. "He kept his promise."

"He got himself a cute one that he did," Jin said as he looked over at the kitten.

"Hiei-chan," Sotto whispered as she stood up quickly and ran out of the room. Everyone's eyes followed her as she disappeared and soon the sound of her footsteps down the hallway did also.

* * *

This feeling Hiei only realized now. He now knew how much he wanted and needed Sotto in order to keep going because now that he had her, his life could never go back to normal. He now knew how much he loved the small kitten and how much he had hurt her by not telling everyone but then the feeling of protection hit him once more. He would protect her the best he could and now he knew that if anything did happen, Yusuke, Kurama, and even Kuwabara would come to help him.

"What is your goal Hiei?" Mukuro asked.

"To marry Sotto," Hiei answered as the black dragon grew around him. "No matter what."

Hiei charged Mukuro, using the dark flames around himself to attack her but she countered every one of his moves with her red powers which surrounded her. They both stood there fighting, until they broke away from each other, Hiei trying to catch his breath, and Mukuro unharmed. He grew angry and then began to attack her with his fists but she dodged each move.

"If you can't get me with your two eyes, why don't you use the Jagan, the eye conceived by Shigure's hands?" Mukuro teased as she dodged. "You had the Jagan implanted so you could search for your teargem? Or to look for something else that you don't want to reveal?"

Hiei rose his leg to kick her but the blow was blocked. She pushed away from the small man, and a red light flew from her body and a large cut was formed in the area around him. She kept doing the movement, causing the red lines to surround Hiei but he quickly ran from side to side to avoid them.

* * *

"She's cutting space itself!" Kurama said, as he looked in. "If Hiei touches any of those lines he'll be cut to pieces!"

"Damn," Mikai cursed as she gripped her fists. _You'd better make it out alive Hiei._

* * *

"Let this be over," Mukuro said once the two of them were surrounded by the red lights. "I don't want to keep fighting this."

"I have no choice," Hiei said with a slight laugh. He reached up towards his headband and tore it off, revealing his Jagan eye. He rose his arm once more as black flames engulfed his body. "This power belongs to the Makai so if I use it here it will be stronger." He warned.

"Hiei…Child of Ice," Mukuro said gently. "If you enjoy playing with fire, then come."

Hiei looked back towards his hand and saw the small golden ring still there. _I'm sorry… Sotto._ He thought.

"Dragon Of The Darkness Flame!" Hiei yelled as the black dragon shot out from his arm and towards Mukuro.

Everyone stood there watching as Mukuro's body disappeared into the dragon's mouth but she stood there, holding it open with her hands and feet. She seemed to be having trouble keeping its mouth open.

"Hiei!" she yelled as her red beams tore open the dragon's mouth and ripped it down through out the dragon.

Everyone watched as the dragon was torn in half, and Hiei was thrown backwards into a painful looking stop. Mukuro landed next to Hiei's fallen body slowly.

"Are you satisfied yet Hiei?" she asked as she walked closed to him.

Hiei began to stand up but his body gave into the pain ripping through his body and he staggered until he finally could stand up on his own.

"This technique is too cruel on you, who were born in the Ice Country, Hiei; it's a burden too heavy on your body," Mukuro said as Hiei stood. "You've lost."

"And that's it people!" Koto yelled. "Mukuro has won the fight!"

* * *

"Hiei lost?" Botan said as she looked up. "Even with the Dragon Of The Darkness Flame?"

"They'll be okay," Koenma said as he too came to terms with the fact that Hiei had just lost such an important battle.

* * *

"Hiei," Kurama muttered.

"Aw he lost!" Rinku said sadly.

"The only two I'm routing for now is Mikai and Yusuke," Suzuki said with a sigh. "Everyone else has lost already."

"You'd better win little lady!" Chuu said playfully as he hit Mikai on her upper arm.

"I'll try." Mikai laughed.

* * *

"Honestly, the last thing I want to hear is that this defeat is an incentive for you to try and overcome me someday. That would be very sad," Mukuro said as she looked at her second in command.

"I know," Hiei said. "I don't want to fight you anymore."

A cracking sound was heard, causing Mukuro to look down. Her mouth dropped open as she watched the shackle around her wrist fall down onto the floor, shattering into pieces.

"All the hatred is under the bridge," Hiei said as he began to walk towards her. "You don't need that anymore. Don't throw everything away…."

Hiei began to walk past her but instead he faltered. Mukuro walked towards him and caught him as he fell.

"Sotto," Hiei whispered as he felt the small ring around his finger shatter. "I'm sorry."

His fighting had caused the small ring to break and Hiei felt as if he had broken another promise to Sotto by not keeping his ring. Fighting had brought his upon him and he was never going to let fighting break him away from his kitten again. Never.

"I promise," Hiei whispered as he began to fall into unconsciousness.

"Good luck Hiei," Mukuro whispered. "Always place your goal first."

* * *

"Hiei-chan," Sotto panted as she ran towards the doctor's office. She had been running towards the battle field before in order to see Hiei but she got distracted by watching the battle and after it was over she figured that it would be better for her to go to the doctor's office.

_I have to see Hiei…_ Sotto thought as she ran.

As Sotto ran down the hallway she saw something walking towards her. She slowed down as the figure came into view and saw that it was Hiei.

"Hiei!" she cried as she ran over to him. He lend against the wall, trying to hold himself up as Sotto ran to him. "Hiei! You should be with a doctor."

"Sotto," Hiei whispered as he fell into her chest, having her support him up in a loving way. He knew that she wouldn't let her fall, ever.

"Sotto-chan?" Sotto asked in disbelief. "Hiei-chan…"

"Sotto?" Hiei asked weakly. "Marry me…"

"What?" Sotto asked. Hiei was showing so much affection towards her and she couldn't believe it. He was showing her and telling her that he cared for her by calling her chan.

"Marry me," Hiei groaned as he wrapped his arms around her tightly.

"Yes," Sotto whimpered as small water beads formed under her eyes. She held Hiei tight to her body as he fell back into his unconscious state.

* * *

"So who's up next?" Chuu asked as he looked around the room.

"Let's see," Suzuki said as he took out a small paper with all of the fighters written down on it. He began to cross off people who had been defeated and began to place two people together in order to get the next pair of fighters.

"Damn," he said once he figured everything out.

"Who?" Jin and Chuu asked as they looked on.

"Mikai…and Yusuke," Suzuki answered as he looked up towards Mikai whose eyes were hidden as she stood up away from Kurama. "It's Mikai versus Yusuke…"

* * *

R&R please! 


	16. Past And Future

I don't own YYH or any of it's characters. I only own Mikai, Sotto, and Kith.

**00000**-shows a flashback and until you see it again, the flashback isn't over.

Enjoy...

* * *

"It's Mikai versus Yusuke," Suzuki said in shock as he looked up at Mikai. She stood up slowly, her hair hiding her eyes as she took in the news. Everyone stood there, waiting for a reaction from Mikai, but no one expected to hear a slight giggle begin from the young woman.

"Mikai?" Kurama asked as the laughing became louder.

Mikai moved her head back and began to laugh out loud. She raised her right arm and brought it down quickly in front of her as she stopped smiling, and she grinned.

"This is gonna be the best battle yet!" she said happily. "I'm gonna kick Urameshi's ass!"

"You'd better go and get him!" Chuu said as he walked over to Mikai and wrapped his arm around her neck. "Show him no mercy!"

* * *

"The next battle is Yusuke versus Mikai demons! So please get ready for a blood spill!" Koto yelled catching everyone's attention in the stadium.

"Mikai," Yomi said gently as he stood in front of a screen. His plans would have worked out if Mikai had kept the small ball within her. She was now fighting Yusuke, and Yomi figured that Mikai would win because of all of the training she had been doing. And if she did win, she would be up against him next.

"Is Mother up?" Shura asked as he looked up at his father.

"Yes," Yomi answered.

Shura looked up at the screen as his mother's stats were shown to every demon around. He was amazed, naturally, for he knew that his mother was strong as well as his father but he had never seen her fight. He knew all to well how powerful his father was because he saw it in the battle with him earlier, but his mother. He had never seen his mother fight and he had never seen her power level.

"Father?" Shura asked as he looked back up at the blind demon. "How high is Mother's power level?"

"Never ask your Mother or I that again," Yomi said not bothering to look down at the small child. "It's rude and disrespectful."

"Yes Father," Shura answered, feeling bad now. He hated being corrected by his father whenever something happened. Being corrected meant that he had done something wrong which meant that he had disappointed someone and that was something he didn't want to do.

"Shura stay here," Yomi ordered as he walked out of the room, leaving Shura alone in the room. He watched his Father walk out of the room, and then his eyes turned back to the screen.

_Mother…_ He thought. _Come out on top.

* * *

_

"I'll be back!" Mikai said happily as she looked towards everyone. "See ya!"

"Good luck," Kurama whimpered as he looked up at her. "After your battle you can find me in the doctor's office."

"No. I want you to go now. Don't worry about me and some little fight I've gotten myself into." Mikai smiled. She took one last look at the people around her and turned around leaving the room. No one spoke about anything until they heard Mikai's footsteps disappear.

"Are you really gonna go?" Suzuki asked as he looked at the red head.

"No," Kurama said as a small wave of pain shot through him. His wounds were much better then they had been but because of the short time Mikai had with him, they weren't healed enough for the pain and blood to be gone of him.

"I want to make sure that she's okay with my own eyes." Kurama placed one knee next to his chest to prevent his wound from tearing open once more.

"Who do you think will win?" Touya asked, changing the subject as he looked towards everyone.

"I don't know," Chuu answered with a sigh. "Those two aren't fightin' because of the tournament, they're fightin' for the sake of fightin' those two are."

* * *

Mikai walked down the hallway looking on either side of her to see whether Yusuke would come to meet her halfway but she hadn't seen any sign of him yet. She blinked a few times but she soon stopped walking for she saw Yomi walking towards her.

"Mikai?" Yomi asked as he took a step towards her.

"What?" she asked as she took a deep breath inwards.

"Through everything which has happened in the past few months between us, I've discovered something I was blind to the rest of the time."

"And what was that?" Mikai asked thinking cruelly to herself that Yomi had been blind to everything, which happened before him anyway.

"I don't only love Senkai," he said gently as he walked over to the small woman and grabbed her shoulders. "I've found that…I love you Mikai."

"What?" Mikai blinked as she looked up at him in amazement. She had guessed that earlier when he said, "I love you" that he was talking to Senkai not her just as everyone else but Kurama did here in the Makai and everything she thought was now confirmed. He was talking to Senkai once more and that was what she had always been used for in the Makai, a medium of some sort. Everything before was for Senkai, not her but this…this was for her and her alone.

"I've let history repeat itself right before my very eyes, and maybe it is because that I'm blind now that I've let it happen once more. I've fallen for the woman that Kurama claims but this time…I want you to come with me." Yomi explained as he moved his mouth towards Mikai's. "I would have taken you that night if you hadn't stopped me…"

Yomi moved his mouth in for the kiss his lips were lusting for. Mikai's mouth had been so soft that night so many months ago and he longed to feel them against his once more but instead he felt a soft finger gently touch his lips and push him away.

"Yomi," Mikai whispered. "I can't do this anymore. I love Kurama with everything in my heart and nothing can change that."

Yomi pulled away in surprise. He knew that Kurama loved Mikai and that Senkai was in love with Youko, but he had no idea that Mikai loved Kurama back. He knew that there was some kind of attachment there but he thought that it was simply because of Senkai being inside of Mikai.

"There is a part of me right now that wants to kiss you, just as that night there was a part of me that wanted to sleep with you…but I can't do something like that to Kurama," Mikai explained.

"I don't want to lose this again," Yomi said as he moved his mouth towards her ear. "I don't want you to leave me alone like you did so many years ago. I don't want to lose you again."

_"I lost you a lifetime before and it's not going to happen again."_

_"When I remembered it…all of the feelings came along with it…and I refuse to feel everything all over again."_

Those words flooded into Mikai's mind as Yomi spoke. Yomi sounded like Kurama the day he confessed that he remembered what had happened to Senkai the day she died. They were both feeling the same thing about the same woman, how could she cause this much trouble?

"But Yomi?" Mikai asked. "If I go with you…won't it be like what Youko did to you?"

Yomi pulled away. She was right, he was doing everything Youko did to him back when they thieved together. He was taking Mikai away from the reborn Kurama and was planning to run away with her and build a family just as Youko did. He was no better then Kurama for here he stood complaining about repeating history and not only was he a victim of a repeating history in a way, but he was the instigator.

"Mikai!" Yusuke yelled as he came running down the hallway from behind the older woman. Both Yomi and Mikai moved their heads towards him as he ran over to the two.

"Come on! The fight is going to start soon," he said as he looked over at Yomi. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"I was just leaving," Yomi said as Mikai turned back around to face him. "Good luck Mikai. Shura and I will be watching."

"Thanks." Mikai smiled. "I'll see you after my fight."

Mikai turned away from Yomi and looked towards Yusuke. He nodded as they both began to run towards the fighting stadium.

_Be safe._ Yomi thought as he too walked away.

* * *

"Ready to go?" Yusuke asked as he hit Mikai on the back of the head.

"Yeah." Mikai smiled.

The two walked down the hallway not really saying much to each other after their small conversation. They reached a part of the hallway where it spit into two other ones. They both looked down each of them and looked back at each other.

"Well this is my way to the fighting platform," Mikai said with a small giggle as she looked at him.

"And this is mine," Yusuke said as he looked down his own little hallway.

"I guess…I'll see you up there?" Mikai asked, now feeling unsure of herself for some reason. She felt like she did the day she left Kurama there at the airport to go back to America to see her family. That feeling came back to her as she looked towards Yusuke.

"Yeah." Yusuke nodded.

The two took once last look at each other, and then they walked down their own hallways, towards their own destinies with or without each other.

* * *

"This is it," Koenma said as he watched the screen in front of him. He watched as the two landed on the fight platform next to each other and stood in front of each other, both with smiles on their faces.

"What is sir?" George asked as he looked at his master.

"Yes Koenma what are you talking about?" Botan asked as she looked up him also.

"I've watched those two grow up together," Koenma began, "I've watched them go through so much together…and I've watched them fight side by side save for the first time they met. And now here they are…doing the thing that brought them together in the first place, fighting. Let's just hope that this doesn't tear them apart. It would be too ironic."

"So who do you think is going to win?" George asked.

"I honestly don't know," Koenma confessed. "Both of them have had training beyond my knowledge and I don't know their current state of minds anymore."

"Well I'm going with my old time favorite, Yusuke!" Botan cheered.

_Let's hope for the two of them…that Yusuke wins._ Koenma thought as he looked on.

* * *

"So this is really it." Yusuke said as he looked at Mikai seriously. "One of us isn't going to walk away from this fight."

"We might just be walking away holding one another up again." Mikai giggled. "But I've been looking forward to his rematch for a while now."

Yusuke began to laugh out loud. He took a small break and looked at Mikai gently. "Me too…" he answered.

"Do me a favor," Mikai said in a serious tone, causing Yusuke's eyes to once more harden and become cold. "Let's pretend this whole thing is done and over with. We'll be back home, fighting like we used to back behind the pastry store."

"Sure." Yusuke smiled, breaking the serious look on his face.

"Ready fighters?" Koto asked over her microphone. "Get set!"

The whole stadium fell silent for they wanted to see what was going to happen. Yusuke was the heir to the fallen Raizen's kingdom, and thanks to the rumors going around the Makai; Mikai was seen as a subject of interest. Everyone wanted to see who was going to be left standing in the end, and who would go on to fight Yomi in the next round. Everyone wanted to see who would win, they didn't care about what was going on in the heads of the fighters, they only cared if it affected the fight in anyway. Nothing more.

* * *

"Mikai," Sotto whimpered as she stood by the screen in the room with both Hiei and Mukuro. Mukuro had found Sotto in the hallway with Hiei and offered to heal him and while she did so, Mikai's battle was about to begin.

"Please be okay…" She blinked and looked on as Hiei groaned a bit.

"So that's Mikai?" Mukuro asked as she looked away from Hiei and back up towards the screen with interest. "Interesting."

* * *

"Go!" Koto finished.

Mikai and Yusuke ran towards each other, hearing Koto telling them to start. The crowd watched punches being exchanged between the two of them as well as kicks. Yusuke's punches seemed to have little effect on Mikai for she was dodging them well. Yusuke then took a hard hit to his right leg from Mikai's and Mikai took a hard punch from an upper cut Yusuke threw in the mix of punches. Both of them jumped away from each other in order to take a small break. Neither showed a sign of tiredness.

"Damn Yusuke," Mikai said happily. "Your punches have gotten a lot better." She laced her fingers together and stretched them out in front of her causing a cracking nose to come from them.

"That kick would have broken my leg before," Yusuke said as he looked down towards his right leg.

"Let's make this a bit more interesting," Mikai said as she bent down and began to stretch out her legs. "How about we don't use our Spirit energy?"

"At all?" Yusuke asked.

"Yeah." Mikai stood back up. "We use our fists only."

"Sure." Yusuke smiled.

"Did you hear that?" Koto said in amazement. "These two have agreed to not use any Spirit attacks towards each other! Is this some kind of plan by Mikai?"

* * *

"No," Mukuro answered. "They want to fight with only the basics. They only want to fight; they don't care about what's going on around them. Tell me Sotto." Mukuro turned towards the young kitten. "Does Yusuke have any feelings towards Mikai?"

"Feelings?" Sotto asked as she looked at the older woman. "What kind of feelings?"

"Romantic feelings."

* * *

"You're such an ass." Mikai whispered as the two ran towards each other once more. They both lost one another in the dust, which gathered around them as they punched and kicked each other with as much strength as they could, expect for Yusuke. He was holding his attacks back and soon began to defend himself.

"_Unanswered question."_

_Damn!_ Yusuke thought as he took a hit to the face. _Why the hell is that stupid thing bothering me so much? It's no big deal! Besides I don't even know what the hell she's talking about!_

"You bastard!" Mikai yelled as she kicked Yusuke on the side of his hip. "You never gave me a damn answer and now it's too late!"

"What?" Yusuke asked as Mikai punched him backwards. His body skidded towards a stop. He looked back up to see Mikai charging him once more. "What the hell are you talking about?" Yusuke yelled as he placed his arms up to defend himself.

* * *

"What the hell is she talking about?" Suzuki asked.

"Mikai," Kurama whimpered as he began to shiver.

Chuu stood there; trying to figure everything out and suddenly, everything came back to him. He began to think everything over to make sure he was right before he opened his mouth.

"Kurama!" Rinku called as he looked towards Kurama. His eyes had shut but he stood in place still holding his stomach. "What happened?"

"Stress," Touya said as he looked over at the red head. "From watching Mikai fight someone Kurama knows has so much power. Yusuke can take Mikai's life in an instant if he wanted to and Kurama knows that. Maybe that fear has finally gotten to him."

"He'll be fine," Chuu said causing everyone to look at him. "Give him time and he'll come back."

"Jeez Chuu what's up with you being so cold all of a sudden?" Rinku asked as he looked up towards his taller fellow fighter.

"Yusuke and Mikai should be the one's that you worry about."

"Why is that?" Touya asked.

"They care for each other so much…and this is hurting them both," Chuu answered.

* * *

Yusuke guarded his face as he took punches from Mikai. He heard her cursing him and such but he couldn't figure out why.

"_Sometimes emotions just slip out while you're fighting especially if you're fighting the person who caused the emotions to run through them in the first place."_

Those words ran through Yusuke's head and he remembered Genkai telling him that when they had first begun to train together. He had dismissed it back then but now he began to figure them out. Mikai had some kind of hidden feeling for him that she had kept hidden ever since their last fight back when they first met but so many things had happened since then and now that Yusuke couldn't think of anything to cause such a feeling to come from Mikai.

Yusuke managed to get a kick in and Mikai jumped away from him. She glared back at him as he stood up, and then charged him once more.

"Dammit!" Yusuke didn't put up a guard this time. He too began attacking when Mikai's hands met his face and both of them exchanged blows. Mikai pulled back once again and this time she looked Yusuke straight in the eyes.

"I've been waiting for this since the day I lost to you!" she yelled. "You bastard! You're going to pay for hurting me back then!"

"Hurting you?" Yusuke repeated. "How could I hurt you?"

"I only ask someone something once and if they don't get it, they don't deserve to get it!" Mikai yelled as she tried to catch her breath. "Don't you remember the day I slept over at your house for the second time? What happened when we went out that night?"

"Why does it matter?" Yusuke yelled back as he tried to remember.

"That was the only time I ever let you hurt me outside of a damn battle!" Mikai yelled as she pointed her finger out towards Yusuke. "I've held this damn grudge ever since that day it happened!"

"What?" Yusuke yelled back. For the life of him he was trying to remember but he couldn't find it. He couldn't find what had happened that day oh so long ago.

"Damn!" Mikai jumped high into the air and moved her right arm back and forth quickly and a sharp blow of air headed towards Yusuke, cutting him lightly on his arm.

"Hey!" he yelled as he dodged another attack. "I thought we weren't supposed to use Spirit energy!"

"I'm not!"

Yusuke dodged every attack he could as the blades of wind shot by him. He looked up towards her arm and saw that she wasn't using Spirit energy but she was moving her arm quickly and was creating enough wind to concentrate it as an attack. But once he had figured everything out, he finally remembered what had happened in the day Mikai was talking about. It was so long ago, right after he had come back from fighting Suzaku.

**0000000**

The sun came into the small pastry store and reflected off of a pure white table. There, sitting with both elbows on the table, sat Yusuke, and Mikai. They both were laughing as the hot sun began to melt the ice cream sitting in front of them.

"So did you miss me?" Yusuke teased as he looked at Mikai.

He had just gotten back from defeating Sukazu but he simply told Mikai that his class was going on a field trip for a few days. Kuwabara and Keiko had both told Mikai the same thing, giving Mikai no reason to think Yusuke was lying, which was the truth.

"Yeah." Mikai giggled.

"Hey," a female said as she walked over to their table with another woman behind her. "Have you two seen a wallet?"

"No." Yusuke shook his head.

"Hey! Are you two a couple? You guys are really cute!" the other female said as she looked over at the two.

"No sorry," Mikai said with a blush.

"Aw! You guys should hook up!" the other woman said.

"Come on," the first girl said with a sigh. "Maybe my wallet is at the library."

The two young woman left, closing the front door with a small jingle. Yusuke and Mikai then began to laugh out loud. They laughed about the question and then thought of each other as a couple and they both found it funny. But, Yusuke did find it a bit funnier then the female.

"You and me." Yusuke laughed. "That's too funny!"

"Yeah," Mikai said as she stopped laughing. "Hilarious."

The two became quiet once more as Yusuke reached out towards the ice cream in front of him and took a small spoon back towards his mouth. He placed the spoon in his mouth as the ice cream fell down his throat.

"Will you go out with me….Yusuke?" Mikai asked.

"What?" he asked in shock as his spoon fell out of his mouth. "You want me to what?"

"Go out with me." Mikai blushed.

"Are you serious?"

Mikai was quiet for a moment. She then moved her hand to the back of her head and began to scratch the back of her head. "Nah I'm just kidding! I wanted to see the look on your face!"

"Damn Mikai you had me scared there for a minute! I thought you were serious!" Yusuke laughed as he mentally sighed about the whole thing.

"Nope." Mikai laughed. "Not serious at all!"

The two began to laugh once more as the sun began to set, and the moon rose up into the sky to receive it's turn in the sky the sun had promised it earlier. Yusuke and Mikai then retreated back to Yusuke's place both laughing about what had happened earlier. They laughed it off, and never thought about it again.

**0000000**

_That's it!_ Yusuke thought. _That unanswered question! But does that mean…_

Yusuke stopped running as Mikai landed on the ground no more then a few feet away from him. She charged him once more and the two began another fist whirlwind.

_Mikai used…to like me. But does she still like me? And what about Kurama?_ He thought.

"_You never gave me a damn answer and now it's too late!"_

_Too late…Kurama._

Kurama was the too late. Mikai had proven over and over again that she was going to be with Kurama but she still regretted never going out with Yusuke. She regretted never telling him how she felt, and finding out whether he felt the same way about her. All of the what if's and could have been's ran through Mikai's head over and over since then but they were numbed for a while when she met Kurama but in their separation, Mikai had time to think everything over, and that was her downfall of emotions.

* * *

R&R please! 


	17. Finding Lost Feelings

I don't own YYH or any of it's characters. I just own Mikai, and Sotto.

**00000000**-shows a flashback.

Enjoy

* * *

"What?" Rinku, Touya, Jin, and Suzuki said as they looked at Chuu.

"Mikai used to like Yusuke a great deal," Chuu said as he looked towards the screen. He had just told them that Mikai had told him along time ago that she used to like Yusuke. Somewhere inside he felt as if it were the right time for everyone to know. "She told me somethin' once, and it told me everythin' that happened between them."

"What?" Suzuki asked as he stepped forward. This was the kind of thing Suzuki lived for besides fighting, gossip and love.

**000000**

Chuu and Mikai's faces were a bright red. In both of their hands was a large bottle of beer that Chuu had been saving for a special occasion and he figured that the night before the tournament was the prefect time to break it out.

"Goddamn it's good to see everyone again," Mikai said happily as she looked at the list of fighters. "I haven't seen Yusuke in forever!"

"I know love!" Chuu laughed.

"Though," Mikai said becoming a bit serious. "I do get a bit jealous when I see him."

"Why's that?" Chuu asked, noticing Mikai's serious tone on the subject.

"Well ya see…" Mikai sighed. "I want him to hook up with my pal back in America, Yuzu and for some reason thinking about that still gets me a bit jealous."

"Why do you think this Yuzu friend of yours belongs with Urameshi?"

"Yuzu's everything I'm not. I liked Yusuke a lot once and he didn't like me back or even hint at liking me…so maybe Yuzu will fit better for him," Mikai explained. "Everything I don't have she does…so maybe that's what I was missing."

Chuu wrapped his arm around Mikai and squeezed her tightly to him. "Don't worry about him now! You've got the red head to look after your heart now!"

"Yeah!" Mikai cheered as she rose her beer bottle once more. "Forget him let's drink!"

**00000000**

"I think that really hurt Mikai…sayin' that," Chuu said. "I can see that the two of them really care about each other…and right now…I really think that Yusuke is beginin' to see that he likes Mikai."

"Why do you say that?" Touya asked.

"It's a little heads up I got from Mikai that's all," Chuu answered.

"So what are you?" Suzuki teased. "A Kurama and Mikai fan, or a Yusuke and Mikai fan?"

"Kurama and Mikai of course!" Chuu said as he looked at Suzuki. "The red head has been with her for so long now! Besides I doubt Mikai would chose Yusuke over Kurama!"

"Me too," Rinku said with a smile.

"I think I am too," Suzuki said, answering his own question.

"I like Yusuke and Mikai," Touya answered only to have everything turn around and shoot death glares at him. "What?"

* * *

"Father?" Shura asked as he looked up at his blind father. "Is Mother going to win?"

"I don't know," Yomi answered. _I never thought of Mikai and Yusuke's past. I didn't know that something as simple as a fight would cause so much emotion to run through her._ He thought.

Shura was surprised. He didn't think that his father would ever look nervous about something. He looked so nervous and was shaking a bit as Shura watched. He took a small gulp and thought of something else.

"Father, what will happen if you win this tournament?" the young one asked.

Yomi didn't answer. He didn't know how to answer. He knew that he was going to rule the Makai and place all three worlds together, the Makai, Ningenkai, and Reikai, but he didn't know what he was going to do on his personal life. Mikai didn't want him so his plan of ruling with her was over with. But then again he could force her to be with him but that wasn't what he wanted. He had no idea what was going to happen, and he hated that fact.

"What if you get paired up to fight with Mother?" Shura asked as he looked up at his father. He never wanted to think of his mother and father fighting but he knew that they wouldn't hold anything back if they did fight and that idea scared him.

"I…don't know," Yomi answered.

He hadn't decided what he was going to do on that fact either. The idea of the ball inside of Mikai holding her down was still placed in his mind and he couldn't get past the fact that it was no longer in her which meant she could do whatever she wanted without the burden of the cursed blood inside of her hurting her.

"But…" He began once more. "I will fight her just as any normal fighter. I've trained her the best I can and I will be willing to fight her to the best of my abilities."

_Mother…_ Shura thought as he looked back towards the screen. _Please win and be careful. I know you can do it.

* * *

_

Yusuke charged Mikai and pushed her back towards a large open area with nothing but sand around them. Mikai's feet dug into the ground as she stopped herself from flying backwards, and Yusuke watched as she slowly stopped.

"You're such a pain in the ass," Mikai hissed as she looked over towards the black haired boy.

"It's not like you're the easiest person to get along with," Yusuke answered back as he pushed his hair back behind him.

This was the only fight he had fought so far where his hair was falling out of place. He was putting his effort into the battle but something was holding him back, and that something was the one thing Yusuke couldn't figure out.

"Mikai!" Yusuke yelled as he thought of something. "What are you going to do after you win this fight?"

"Fight Yomi of course!" Mikai answered.

"And then what?"

"Keep fighting until I win!"

Yusuke looked away laughing. Mikai puffed up her cheeks and glared at him as he looked back at her. "Sorry." He laughed. "It's just that…" Yusuke pointed his finger out towards her. "What will Kurama do once you rule the Makai?"

"Whatever the hell he wants too!" Mikai yelled back.

"But if you're ruling the Makai, you'll be stuck here, and then what does Kurama do? Does he go home to his mother? Or does he stay here with you?"

"Damn…" Mikai bit her lip and looked away. That was the one flaw in her plan that she hadn't thought out yet. She had made plans for if she won, and if she lost but she had been looking towards winning a bit more then losing.

"We'll see what happens," Mikai answered after finding a decent answer in her head. "But until then my choices are only my own! And I'll deal with what happens if my plans ago astray!"

"Fine with me," Yusuke said with a smile as he charged Mikai once more. As he charged her, he noticed that she didn't move at all. He kept charging though, and soon met Mikai's knee in his stomach.

"Damn," he muttered as Mikai kicked him off of her leg and onto the floor a few feet away. He held his stomach as he stood up and shot a glare at her.

"You leave yourself too open," Mikai said as she shot another glare at him.

"Don't start that…" Yusuke groaned as he stood up. "Again…"

* * *

"Mikai…isn't going to make it through this battle," Mukuro said as she looked on, catching the attention of the kitten.

"What?" Sotto asked in surprise. "Why not?"

"She's tried…releasing all of that built up emotion and finally saying what she's been meaning to say for years took effort from her…and now she's tired…emotionally. Not to mention her wound must be hurting her," Mukuro answered, not bothering to take her eyes off of the screen.

"Mikai." Sotto looked at the screen. "She doesn't look tried at all…"

_How much longer can you keep this up Mikai?_ Mukuro thought as she looked on. _How much longer until your emotions get the better of you?

* * *

Yusuke and Mikai charged one another once more with nothing but fists. They began hitting each other over and over again and both of them lost themselves within the fight. The thoughts running through their heads got the better of them, and soon they each began to think everything over._

Yusuke thought back, back to when he and Mikai kept the fact that they were Spirit detectives a secret from each other. So much had happened back then and Yusuke loved it. He remembered how their sleepovers went and how those two moments which made Yusuke question his relationship made him feel. He thought of the first one, the night after a fight in the streets and he had brought Mikai home for the first time. It was that night that he had the dream which made him think of Mikai over a friend, the first time he had ever thought of her as a lover instead. He could remember everything from that night, the way she smelled, to the way she looked, to the most important, the way she made him feel. Back then he felt as if the world could fall apart around him and he wouldn't care. He was so content and happy that nothing could touch him, nothing at all.

The second one took place a few months after and the two of them were once more at Yusuke's place because Mikai's aunt had gotten mad at Mikai because of her poor grades and had kicked her out of the house. With nowhere to go, Mikai came to Yusuke's place and spent a week there but the last night there he remembered having another dream or whatever it was about her being with him in the shower. Again the emotion of being content came over him and it was stronger this time since Yusuke had felt it once before and could now recognize it fully and somewhat understand it. He still didn't know whether those two incidents were dreams or something that really happened but Yusuke didn't care, he just cared about the feeling which came with it and how it changed both him and Mikai.

_Damn!_ Yusuke thought through it all. _Why now? Dammit! Why the hell is everything hitting me this hard now?_

Between Yusuke and Mikai, everything had been great. But there were, as in every relationship, downfalls and moments of loss. Nothing could explain in words what Yusuke felt when he watched Mikai get shot through the stomach back when Seme was around and Kurama was trying to keep away from Mikai for her own safety. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion as Yusuke watched Mikai bleed because of him. But even worse then that was what he thought at the hospital when Kurama showed up. He thought in those moments that he cared for Mikai more then Kurama ever did or ever could in his or Youko's lifetime.

And that was it.

In that moment in time, Yusuke felt something shot through him and he stopped punching Mikai, allowing her to hit him. The impact from the hit caused him to go flying backwards once more and his body skidded to a stop.

"Damn Yusuke!" Mikai yelled. "Fight me dammit! What the hell are you thinking about?"

Yusuke stood up and wiped the small trail of blood coming from his mouth away with his right hand. He looked at Mikai in wonder and felt a feeling rushing through him that he had felt twice before only this time words came to his mind.

_I like her…I like Mikai…_ Yusuke thought. _More then a friend…_He shook his head. _I can't! She's my sister dammit! Besides she belongs with Kurama!_

"Stop fucking around!" Mikai yelled as she charged Yusuke once more. "Just fight you ass!"

Yusuke blocked Mikai's punches as he began to think everything over. Being here in the Makai, he had been isolated from everyone else. He hadn't seen any of his friends or anyone he held close to his heart in so long and the only one who had ever come to see him or check up on him was Mikai.

_It's just like when I was sick…She was the only one who was there for me._ Yusuke thought as he began to remember a time so long ago.

**0000000000**

"Damn."

Yusuke sneezed and rolled over onto his left side. He had gotten some kid of cold from Kuwabara only Kuwabara had gotten over it rather quickly but Yusuke had been sick for three straight days and he didn't feel as if he were getting any better.

He pushed off his white blankets only to find that he was cold and he wanted them back on so he pulled them back up but then found that it was too hot so he pushed them back off. He sat up to open the window to let some cool air in to hopefully balance everything out but when he opened the window he heard kids yelling and screaming down below.

"Damn kids." He sniffled as he slammed his window shut.

"Hey!" a cheery female voice said from behind. Yusuke looked to see Mikai standing in the doorway with a black backpack over her shoulder.

"What?" Yusuke asked before he sneezed.

"Bless you." Mikai walked over to him and placed her right hand on his forehead and her left hand on her forehead. "Damn you're hot!"

"How did you get in? Is my mom home yet?"

"No. I picked the lock." Mikai grinned as she pulled away from him. She turned her backpack around so that it was in front of her and she reached down inside and pulled out a small bottle of medicine. "Just take this to bring your fever down."

"I don't like medicine," Yusuke said as he fell back down onto his pillow. "You know that."

"You gotta bring that fever down." Mikai sighed as she walked into Yusuke's bathroom and filled a cup with cold water. She brought it over to Yusuke and held it out to him. "Hurry up and take it before I make you take it."

"Damn…" Yusuke sat back up and took the pill and swallowed it down with the water. He coughed a bit and then laid back down.

Mikai walked back into the bathroom and came back out with a small purple washcloth which was dark now and dripping a bit of water onto the floor. She walked over to Yusuke and placed it on his forehead.

"Get some sleep okay?" she said gently. "You have to beat that fever before you can start to get any better."

"Whatever," Yusuke said as he closed his eyes and began to fall asleep. Within minutes of telling himself that he wasn't going to fall asleep, Yusuke fell into a deep sleep and his body began to recover.

* * *

Yusuke opened his eyes only to see that the light in his room was now on and darkness touched the edges of the room where the light couldn't reach. He sat up and the washcloth fell off of his forehead as he looked around to see Mikai in the corner of the room working on something.

"What are you doing?" he asked as he sniffled.

"Workin' on needlepoint," Mikai answered as she put her work down and looked over at Yusuke. "How are you feeling?"

"Well…" Yusuke placed the back of his hand on his forehead. "My fever is gone but I still feel sick."

"It's good that your fever's gone." Mikai stood up. "What do you want to eat?"

"You'll make me something?" Yusuke asked blinking. "I thought you couldn't cook."

"Well I'll try," Mikai said with a gentle laugh. "Don't worry it'll be fine! Just tell me what you want!"

She was willing to make him something no matter what and Yusuke found it funny. He began to laugh a bit as he looked over at her and then Mikai began to laugh because Yusuke's laugh was plagued by his stuffed up nose. The two laughed for a while before Yusuke gave her and answer and she went off to go and cook it. But laughing wasn't the thing that made Yusuke feel good. It was the fact that Mikai had come out of her way to come and see him to make sure that he was okay, which was more then his mother was doing at the moment. And that was something that Yusuke would never forget.

**0000000000**

She had always been the one to come and make sure that he was okay because she knew how he got if he was left alone for a long period of time. She knew how he acted and why he acted certain ways. Only she knew.

_So do I or don't I?_ Yusuke thought. _Do I like Mikai?_

Mikai dodged one of Yusuke's punches and jumped upwards. She pushed herself to fall behind Yusuke were she stood not moving at all. Yusuke froze as he felt something hit his back; it was Mikai's hand, right at the base of his spine.

"I could kill you now Yusuke," Mikai said gently. "But that's not what I'm here to do. I can't kill you…simply because it would be like killing a part of myself and because of Senkai…there isn't much for me to lose right now. Yusuke…Senkai has begun to take over my body here in the Makai and I don't want that to happen but I'm afraid that if I leave Senkai just like Kurama left Youko…that I won't love Kurama anymore and if that happens…please tell me that you'll still be there."

"Come on people let's see some blood!" Koto yelled. "Can Mikai rip out Yusuke's spine or will she chicken out of it?"

"Don't be stupid," Yusuke said with a slight laugh. "I'd never let Senkai take over your body. Even if I were in Raizen's kingdom and you were in Yomi's I'd come and give your body back to you even if I had to fight Senkai over and over. Trust me, as long as I'm here and breathing I'm not going to let you get up and leave."

"Yusuke," Mikai whimpered. She took her hand off of Yusuke's back and replaced it with her body. She buried her head in Yusuke's back and folded her left arm into his back as well and let her right arm fall down by his side.

"I'm not going to let you go anywhere so don't worry about anything," Yusuke said gently. His right hand grabbed Mikai's hand and wrapped his pinky around hers. "I promise."

"You're such…a pain in my ass," Mikai said gently.

"I know." Yusuke smiled. "But for now let's get back to the fight."

"Right." Mikai pulled away from Yusuke, and possibly her one and only chance left in the world to be with him. She broke their hands apart and hopped backwards. She got herself back into a fighting position and smiled. "Come on Yusuke!"

Yusuke turned around to face Mikai and smiled. "I'm coming."

* * *

_It's my fault._ Yomi thought as he felt everything unfold in front of him. _It's my fault that Mikai was losing the fight to Senkai…All the training, and everything was forcing on her, Mikai almost lost herself._

"Is Mother alright?" Shura asked as he looked up at his father. "I mean…she's going to stay Mikai right?"

"Yes Shura…I think she is." Yomi sighed.

A part of him wanted to keep Senkai around and yet another part of him knew that it was hurting Mikai too much to keep going back and forth so he figured that it would be best for Mikai to give up Senkai altogether and become who she wanted to be, just as Kurama did. This was something only Mikai could do for herself.

* * *

Yusuke and Mikai ran towards each other and began another fist fight only this time; everything was out on the table, save for Yusuke's mind. Did he or didn't he like Mikai? There were so many emotions there and he couldn't figure everything out. He knew that something inside of him was telling him that he liked Mikai but what about Kurama?

_She's the only one besides Kuwabara who's always been there for me no matter what and she wanted to be there._ Yusuke thought. _She cares about me and she used to like me…before she met Kurama…_

_I have to end this._ Mikai thought. _This fight has to end…I'm not going to last much longer._

The two fought for minutes on end, and through Yusuke's punches he could tell that Mikai was growing weaker and weaker by the moment. He knew what was going to happen if he let Mikai win, she would go on and fight and then if she won both her and Kurama would be separated once more and Yusuke knew that, that wasn't healthy for the two of them.

_I have to beat Mikai. Her being in the Makai to rule everything isn't right…even though…_ Yusuke thought before he took a punch to the face. _Her and Kurama need time together…so I can't let her win._

Yusuke reached down and landed an uppercut into Mikai's stomach and she fell over his arm and blood slowly fell out of her mouth. She couldn't pull herself back up because of the pain shooting through her. Yusuke took his hand back and Mikai looked up at Yusuke only to see him look sorry.

"Yusuke," Mikai whimpered.

Yusuke rose his leg and kicked Mikai to the side. She rolled to a stop and a few moments passed before she moved. Her upper body came up first but then faltered as she coughed up blood coming from her stomach. She pushed herself up and stood weakly as she looked back at Yusuke.

"Damn you." She said with a slight smile.

The dust around them blew up causing Mikai's hair to flow in front of her and her clothes to blow towards Yusuke. The wind blew past Yusuke pushing his hair backwards almost telling the both of them that it wasn't meant to be for just as the wind blew them, they would always be going the opposite way from each other.

"Y-You won…again." Mikai held her stomach as she fell forward, landing in the dust below her.

"And that's it!" Koto yelled as she looked on. "Yusuke has beaten Mikai in their fight which means Yusuke moves on!"

"Mikai…" Yusuke ran towards Mikai's body and shook her gently. She groaned as she tried to get up but failed. "Here." Yusuke picked up her body and wrapped his arm around her, and she did the same only to get a look from Yusuke.

"What?" she asked. "I know I hurt you so don't even pretend. I can see your bleeding leg."

"I can't keep anything from you can I?" Yusuke laughed.

"Never have and never will." Mikai laughed before she coughed. "Come on…we've got to get you ready for your next fight."

Both of the fighters walked away from the battlefield arm in arm once more. They both held each other and promised one another that they wouldn't fall or drop the other. They carried one another back to the tournament stadium before Mikai faltered a bit but Yusuke caught her. He brought her back to the room where Chuu and the others were only to discover that Kurama was now conscious.

"Mikai!" Kurama said gently as he walked over to her.

"I'm fine." Mikai said as Yusuke passed Mikai over to Kurama, letting his hand slip away hers with the knowledge that he was doing what was right.

Mikai and Kurama belonged together and he was going to make sure that they would be together because he couldn't be with her. Yusuke felt good knowing that Mikai was with someone that he could trust and he figured that it was what Mikai deserved…and yet something still tore at him inside.

That day, years ago when Mikai took an energy beam for him right outside of Kurama's school, Meiou High. When Kurama had come to the hospital while Mikai was still recovering and unable to speak or see anything, Kurama had asked Yusuke to tell Mikai that he loved her once she had awoken. Kurama had placed the burden of telling Mikai that he loved her while in that moment Yusuke felt as if Kurama wasn't capable of loving Mikai the way _he_ could.

Another feeling shot through Yusuke once more and he could only think of it as betrayal. Was he betraying Kurama in thinking that he could love Mikai better? Or was he betraying Mikai's feelings by saying that she had chosen the wrong man? He knew that everything looked right and seemed to be right but Yusuke's heart was tearing away inside of his chest.

"_She just doesn't match you ya know? There's someone else out there for you and I know it."_

Those words…Mikai's words about him and Keiko. She was the one who told Yusuke that Keiko wasn't right for him and at the time, Yusuke thought that she was just telling him that because she hated Keiko but now that Yusuke looked back on it, did Mikai want Yusuke and Keiko apart because she wanted Yusuke? Did that mean that Mikai had liked Yusuke even when she was with Kurama? That in the days she was growing to know Kurama better, that Mikai still had a soft spot for Yusuke in her heart?

_I like her._ Yusuke thought as he looked at the two. _I really like Mikai…but it's too late for me to say anything now.

* * *

_

R&R please!


	18. Finding What You Once Lost

I don't own YYH or any of it's characters. I only own Mikai, and Sotto.

Update for Aug/Sept. Okay people's I've finally updated so I hope you enjoy everything I've written. Damn school takes a lot out of you. Enjoy

* * *

"I'm going to my fight now." Mukuro said as she turned away from the screen in front of her and began to walk out of the room.

"Good luck," Sotto said gently; Mukuro to looked at her curiosity. She turned her eyes away from the kitten and looked back at Hiei who looked away quickly.

"Thank you Sotto," Mukuro said with a slight smile. She turned her head away and walked out of the room leaving the two lovers behind in silence.

"Sotto," Hiei said as he looked up at the woman. "Sotto?"

"What Hiei-chan?" Sotto asked gently as she looked down at the smaller demon, almost teary eyed from Hiei's show of affection.

"Let's go watch Urameshi's battle from the stadium."

"Sure." Sotto nodded.

"I'd better be goin'," Yusuke said as he looked at everyone in the room with him. Mikai stood back up from her sitting position.

"I'll walk you," she offered.

"No." Yusuke shook his head back and forth. "Stay here and get your strength back."

"Why?" Mikai said with a small sarcastic laugh. "I don't have anyone else to fight since I'm out of this tournament."

Yusuke blinked, realizing that she was right. "Fine." He sighed. "Come on I'm leaving now."

"I'll be back," Mikai said gently as she looked back towards Kurama. He nodded and Mikai walked out of the room with Yusuke by her side.

"One minute she's here and the next minute she's gone," Touya said once the two had left.

"Aw let them two figure out what's goin' on by themselves!" Chuu said as he looked at the people around him. "Mikai will be back don't you worry!"

"I know she will but I'm just wonderin' why those two are always talkin' alone," Jin said as he looked towards the door. "I wonder what they are talkin' about."

"Are you really ready for this?" Mikai asked as the two walked down the hallway, their footsteps echoing behind them.

"To fight Yomi?" Yusuke asked. "Or for what's going to happen after the tournament?"

"Both."

"Yeah." Yusuke sighed a bit.

"Good."

"Yusuke…" Mikai stopped walking, letting the black haired boy step in front of her. He soon stopped, after hearing that she had, but he didn't bother to turn around to face the older woman.

"This as far as I can walk you. Everything's starting to hurt now," she said, finishing her sentence.

"I'll be fine," Yusuke answered. "Thank you for walking me this far."

"This," Mikai whimpered. "Is where I let you go to make your own choices. This is where I let you go…and let you make choices on your own like you have so many times but this time…I won't be able to help you or carry you back."

"Mikai…"

"Good luck Yusuke." Mikai turned away and walked back down the hallway before she could hear Yusuke say anything more. He closed his eyes and listened to her walk down the hallway until he couldn't hear it anymore. It was then that he walked towards his fighting stadium where he would fight Yomi face to face.

* * *

Everyone looked on and watched as Mukuro fought with Natsume and then everything soon changed over to Yusuke who was fighting Yomi.

"I'm going to find Shura okay?" Mikai said as she came back into the room. "I don't know how he'll act when he's watching his Father fight."

"But what about your injures?" Jin asked as he looked at Mikai's stomach.

"I'll be fine." Mikai sighed. "Thanks for worrying though."

"Mother?" Shura asked as he walked into the room. He looked around a bit before his eyes spotted Mikai. He walked over to her with a bit of smile on his face. "Are you going to watch Father's fight?"

"I will." Mikai smiled.

"Then come on…" Shura grabbed Mikai's hand and tugged on it. "Let's go and watch it from the stands."

"Shura," Mikai said as he tugged on her arm. He looked back at her, confused.

"Come on Mother!" Shura said as turned away from his mother and began to tug on her arm once more. "We're going to miss the start of the fight."

"Wait…Shura…"

"What?" he asked rather annoyed as he turned back towards the woman who had been calling mother for the past few months.

"I can't go with you," Mikai answered. "I can't."

"Why not?"

"I'm not going to cheer for Yomi. I'm going to cheer for Yusuke," she confessed. She knew that she had to cheer for Yusuke and she couldn't do that sitting next to Shura. She would be watching Yusuke and hoping for his win and not Yomi's and she couldn't call out Yusuke's name while Shura sat next to her.

"Why?" Shura asked in surprise. "Don't you want Father to win?"

"I want Yusuke to win," Mikai explained. "I've always cheered for Yusuke, and I've always been on his side and I can't change that now. Yusuke needs a cheerleader more then ever right now."

"But what about Father?" Shura asked, not understanding. "Yusuke's too weak to win! Why cheer for someone who's weak?"

"Shura," Mikai said gently. "Did you cheer for me?"

"Of course!"

"I lost to Yusuke…so are you calling me weak also?"

"No." Shura shook his head, now realizing everything.

His Mother had lost to Yusuke, the person he was calling weak so in short, he was calling his Mother weak and he knew, he thought, that his Mother had to be as strong as his Father for Yomi wouldn't want anything to do with her if she was weak.

"Shura…go and wait in the stands. I'll meet you and your Father after the fight," Mikai said as she gently pulled her hand away from Shura. "Go and cheer for your Father."

"Fine." Shura turned away, upset with himself and his Mother. He walked out of the room and down the hallway. _Mother is strong._ He thought. _Not like Father…Father is different somehow.

* * *

_

"Begin!" Koto yelled as everyone looked on towards Yusuke and Yomi's fight.

The two began by pushing their powers towards each other, and after they had shown their power levels, Yomi took Yusuke on in hand-to-hand combat. Everyone felt their power, and saw things that they never thought would happen. Yomi took a hit to the face from Yusuke, and everything fell downhill from there. Yusuke had lost his will to fight; he didn't know what he was fighting for who he was anymore.

_Why am I doing this all?_ Yusuke thought as he fell backwards from one of Yomi's punches. _I used to be so angry and that was my reason to fight but now…everything's gone._

Yomi walked over to Yusuke's fallen body and picked it up. He looked into the empty eyes of his enemy and found himself growing angry.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Yomi hissed.

"I've lost it. My reason to fight," Yusuke answered.

"What!" Yomi yelled. "You ignorant child! I've given everything I had into this fight and this tournament had you have the audacity to fight me with nothing in your heart!" Yomi began to punch Yusuke over and over again in the face, hoping that Yusuke would soon get the idea.

He didn't.

He couldn't find why he was fighting. Everything was running through his head and he couldn't find the one thing he was fighting for. There was no one back home for him, and yet there was no one here in the Makai for him. Nothing was pushing him into this fight, he was there for himself and that wasn't reason enough.

* * *

"Something's wrong," Mikai said in almost a whisper as she looked up towards the screen. "Yusuke…he…can't find something. He's not fighting like he used too."

"What could cause that?" Touya asked.

"Come on Urameshi!" Kuwabara's voice echoed through the small room, everyone hearing it even though they didn't see him. "You can kick is ass!"

"His…reason," Kurama answered. "We all have a reason to fight…but Yusuke can't find his."

_Yusuke!_ Mikai thought. _You have to find your reason again! You have too!_

"Mikai?" Kurama asked as he looked towards the older woman. "You have a reason to fight correct? What is it?"

Mikai opened her mouth to tell everyone but nothing came out. She couldn't think of her reason to fight, she couldn't find it in the back of her mind.

"Mikai?" Kurama asked, beginning to worry.

"I don't have one," Mikai said as her voice became quiet. "I don't have a reason to keep fighting."

"Why did you ask her that?" Rinku asked, as he looked at Kurama confused.

"Her and Yusuke might have the same reason, since they've grown up together and their so much alike." Kurama explained. "And I just thought that if Mikai knew hers that we could have faith that Yusuke would find his."

"No." Mikai turned her head away. "I have a reason! I know I do dammit!"

"Mikai you'll find it." Kurama said gently as he wrapped his arm around her gently.

Feeling Kurama's arm, Mikai remembered everything. She turned back to him and smiled. She remembered her reason to fight, and saw it when she looked at everyone in the room.

"My reason," Mikai said gently. "Is everyone I care for…it's all of you."

"Aw thanks!" Chuu said with a laugh.

"That's it." Mikai stood up and began to walk out of the room. "I'll be back in a minute okay? I've got to let that ass know what I'm fighting for…and maybe if he gets really desperate then he can use mine."

Everyone in the room watched as Mikai ran out of the room as fast as she could, towards the stadium. Once they figured that she would be okay, they turned back to the screen in front of them, and hoped that Mikai would make it in time.

* * *

_Why am I doing all of this?_ Yusuke thought as he stood up and got ready to fight Yomi once more. _There's nothing there for me. No one's going to be there if I do win…_

_Yusuke you ass! The reason I fight is for the people around me! Think of the people around you who love you! They need you to protect them because at times they're too weak to protect themselves! You fight to save the people around you!_

_That voice… _Yusuke thought after the voice ran through his head. _It's Mikai's voice._

"Me? The reason I fight is to protect the people around me cause if I don't do it…no one else will and the people who need to be protected will always be looking for someone to fight for them because they can't. I do this for the people who can't for the people I love…and need to protect."

Mikai's words ran through his head as he remembered where she had said it. They had been fighting a gang of kids who robbed a local store and they had hurt the people inside. Yusuke and Mikai then ran after the kids and beat them down until they recovered a small amount of money, which Mikai returned because Yusuke wanted to keep it as a reward. Back then, back in that time, everything was wonderful. Even though Yusuke was fighting for Spirit World, and Mikai was also, he realized that they both were protecting each other because they didn't confessed to each other what they really were. They feared one another getting hurt just like how Hiei kept his engagement to Sotto a secret to protect her, and how Kurama hid his feelings from Mikai so that no one would hurt her. Through all of this, Yusuke saw that even through they were protecting the people they loved; they were getting hurt in the long run. Kurama was keeping his feelings a secret, which was perverting him from moving on with her, Hiei never got to neither show any kind of affection nor wear his ring, and Yusuke had the guilt of always lying to Mikai about something.

_We're protecting each other…_ Yusuke thought. _Even though we get hurt in the long run….we protect the ones we love._

"Urameshi! They don't get it, even though I lost, that's not what fight's about," Kuwabara's voice said as it too ran through his head. "A real man has a reason to fight and always follows that reason, even if they lose."

"You fight…for all of them," Genkai's voice echoed through his head as a small picture of everyone he had met flashed through his head.

He thought of everything, which made someone so unique as pictures of each person ran through his mind. He thought of everything he had been through in the past few years and remembered the good and bad times. He remembered how it felt to fight with Sensui and Touguro, and how he was saving the world with everyone he loved in it.

"Are you finally ready to fight?" Yomi asked as he looked at Yusuke who now had the marks of his family line on his body.

"As ready as ever," Yusuke said with a smile.

* * *

"He found it!" Chuu said happily, seeing the light back in Yusuke's eyes. "He found what he was fighting for."

"Now the real fight begins." Touya said as he cracked a smile.

* * *

Mukuro walked from behind Hiei and Sotto and began to watch the fight with a slight sigh.

"What's wrong?" Sotto asked as she looked at the orange haired woman.

"Something must have happened to Yusuke to make him forget his reason to fight, just as someone he really cared for must have made him remember why he is fighting. Who do you think it was?" She asked.

"Mikai," Hiei answered.

"Do they care for each other?" Mukuro asked.

"No," Sotto answered. "Mikai's in love with Kurama."

"I think she still has some feeling for Yusuke," Mukuro answered.

"He does for her," Hiei said as he looked towards the kitten. "Yusuke has very strong feelings for Mikai. That moron has taken this long to realize it."

"What?" Sotto asked in surprise. "I had a feeling that Yusuke might have liked Mikai but he really does?"

"He clings to her because he knows that she'll never get up and leave him," Mukuro explained. "You can see it in the way he plays around with her and the way they fight."

"Wow…" Sotto said as she looked up towards the screen. A part of Sotto felt bad that Yusuke wouldn't be able to be with Mikai since he knew how much both Kurama and Mikai loved each other and yet a part of her felt as if only Kurama and Mikai should be together. She had watched and heard about the two and she thought that they were prefect for each other, they needed each other but did Yusuke need Mikai more then Kurama needed Mikai?

* * *

Yomi created a barrier around him, just as he had done when he was fighting Shura. Yusuke began to fire his Spirit Gun but he was using his demon energy but it had no effect on the barrier around Yomi. He smiled, knowing that Yusuke would run out of energy soon, but then a small cut came across his face.

"What?" He yelled as another one cut him. "Impossible!"

"Looks like Yusuke is using his demon and Spirit energy!" Koto yelled as she looked and saw a mix of blue light with red. "What an ingenious move!"

"Damn." Yomi cursed as his barrier fell from around him and Yusuke's attacks began to hit him head on.

"I'm gonna finish this right now!" Yusuke yelled as a yellow glow came up around him.

"What's that?" Rinku asked as he moved forward.

"His life energy," Kurama said as he looked on in wonder.

"I'd be glad to finish this," Yomi said, as he got ready for another one of Yusuke's attacks.

Yusuke yelled as he ran towards Yomi with everything he had left in his body. He met Yomi head on and the two exchanged punches to the face, and then they both began to fall towards the side, in defeat. Both began to fall towards the ground when Yomi hear someone.

"Father!"

His right leg slipped out in front of him, and he caught himself before he could go crashing towards the grounds in defeat. But Yusuke, Yusuke kept falling and falling until he hit the ground below him.

"And Yusuke is down!" Koto yelled. "I'll begin the countdown! One! Two!"

Yusuke tried to push himself up in order to keep fighting but he couldn't find the strength to push himself up. He kept trying over and over as the countdown went on, unmercifully.

"Damn," Yusuke muttered as he blacked out, and nothing was left.

* * *

R&R please! 


	19. Making Promises For Yesterday

I don't own YYH or any of it's characters. I only own Mikai and Sotto.

Okay in this chapter, a bit of sex is mentioned so if you don't want to read it, just skip over it a bit. Flashbacks are showed by **00000000** once you see that again, that means that the flashback is over. Other then that, please enjoy

* * *

A week had passed since Yusuke's loss to Yomi in the fight, which would forever change the Makai. The winner of the tournament turned out to be Enki, the demon who knew Raizen so well. Everything was now up to him, and no one else.

Everyone was now doing his or her own thing as Mikai, Kurama, and Hiei waited for Yusuke to awaken from his sleeping state.

"Mother?" Kurama asked over his cell phone. Now that he would be home soon, he only felt it right to call her and let her know that he was okay.

"_It's nice to hear from you Shuuichi_," she answered sweetly; the red head to smiled.

"I'll be home soon Mother…and I have to tell you that I've found Mikai."

"_Really_?" his mother said happily. "_That's wonderful! Will you two be coming home soon?_"

"Yes Mother. Very soon."

Now Kurama's future could begin. He would be with Mikai and she would be living with him, and the two could now move on with their lives. Nothing would be holding them back from looking into their future and stepping into it. Nothing at all.

* * *

"Hiei-chan."

The darkness of the Makai covered everything around Hiei and Sotto as they lay in a large bed that Mukuro had given to them in order to sleep in while they waited for Yusuke to wake up.

Hiei was on top of Sotto as her body was absorbed by the purple sheets underneath the both of them. The both of them listened to the silence around them caused by the darkness and heard their own thoughts being echoed through it over and over again.

"Sotto."

Hiei nudged his face next to Sotto's gently, causing her to blush. She mewed as Hiei's fingers found hers, and wrapped themselves around hers. He moved his face next to Sotto's and gently pressed his lips against hers.

As their lips met, Hiei's hand broke away from Sotto's and reached down into his pocket and pulled out a small object. He pulled away from Sotto in their quick kiss and pushed the small object onto her finger.

_A ring._ Sotto thought as she smiled.

"Marry me," Hiei whispered as he nudged his face next to hers once more.

"I already told you yes." Sotto giggled. "But…yes…Hiei I'll marry you."

"No more secrets," Hiei whispered.

They kissed once more only this time with a bit more passion behind each of their kisses, hinting at what Hiei really wanted. Sotto was the first one to pull away from him and then nudged her face next to his.

"I'm not going back to the Ningenkai with you," Hiei whispered.

"I know," Sotto whimpered as she grabbed the back of his black tank top, telling Hiei that she didn't want to let him go. "I'm going to miss you."

"It's only for two years." He grabbed her black shirt, telling her that he didn't want to let her go either. "After two more years of training I'll come back."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

The two kissed once more, Hiei telling Sotto that he would keep his promise and that he _would_ see her again no matter what unless something held him back, something such as death.

"Do you really want to do this?" Hiei asked feeling Sotto's hesitation. "We don't have too."

Sotto thought about what Hiei wanted. They never really had time alone like this were they would be able to make love to one another even though they had wanted to do it for so long now.

"I want to," Sotto answered as Hiei moved his head next to hers. She gently nipped at Hiei's ears before she said anything more. "Do you want to?"

Hiei moved his mouth towards Sotto's kitten ear and gently nipped at it, returning the favor. He took in a deep breath and took in everything that was Sotto. Her smell made Hiei feel so content, it was just another reason for him to cuddle next to her.

"Yes," he whispered, making it seem as if he wanted her to hear him and her only.

She was the only one who Hiei would let himself feel vulnerable around on purpose. By letting himself be free and by letting all of his guards down he could be himself and let Sotto love the true him.

"Kittens," Hiei whispered as he brought his face back down towards Sotto's. "I want kittens."

"Kittens." Sotto giggled.

Sotto's arms reached around Hiei and gently found their way up the back of Hiei's shirt, feeling his soft skin. It was the feeling Sotto loved and hadn't felt for a while. Ever since Hiei left without saying a word to her back when everyone began to go to the Makai, she had wanted to see him and touch him and now she could. Everything was perfect.

"I love you…Hiei-chan," Sotto whispered as Hiei gently kissed her neck.

"Hn." Hiei whispered back.

* * *

The two laced their hands once more and the both of them allowed their guards to fall as they did something for their relationship, which they had wanted to do for years. They now belonged to one another and soon they would marry each other and then the world would know that they belonged to each other in a promise stronger then time.

Mikai walked into Yomi's office after being called in a few moments before. She peaked into the room and saw Yomi sitting against the window, waiting.

"You called?" Mikai asked as she walked into the room and over to the blind demon.

"Mikai…this is were I say good bye to you," Yomi said as he moved his head towards Mikai. "I wanted to tell you how sorry I am."

"For everything?" Mikai asked with a small giggle.

"I've been nothing but selfish the whole time you've been here and I've hurt you this whole time," Yomi confessed. "I've learned so much from having you here, so thank you. But do allow me one more thing."

"What?"

"Forgive me."

Mikai sighed. A part of her didn't want to forgive Yomi for everything he had done. A part of her wanted to hate Yomi forever for all of the pain he had caused Kurama and her in the past few years that they had been there and yet something told her to forgive him. Something deep inside of her…maybe Senkai.

"I forgive you…Yomi," Mikai said gently as she put her head down. "But…Yomi?"

"What?" he asked, hearing the emptiness behind Mikai's voice caught his attention quickly.

"If I told you that I would, would you let me come with you? I mean if I told you that I wanted to stay in the Makai with you, would you let me?"

Yomi smiled. "Of course I would."

"Yomi…" Mikai looked back up at him. "Being here has also taught me so much about myself and the choices I have to make, not Senkai, not anyone else. So thank you for being one of those people who has taught me so much and I'm happy I was able to teach you something as well."

"Your welcome." Yomi smiled.

"Mother!" Shura said as he ran into the room happily. "I'm gonna miss you!"

"I'll miss you too!" Mikai said happily as she hugged Shura tightly to her body, almost not wanting to let go. "Promise me you'll be good for Dad."

"I will." He smiled but then the small smile faded. "Will I ever see you again Mother?"

"You will one day." Mikai smiled as she kissed him gently on the cheek. "I promise you that I'll see you again."

"Come now Shura," Yomi said as he stepped forward. "We have to go and see Kurama before we leave."

"Do we have too?" Shura whined.

"Be polite Shura," Yomi said in a fatherly tone as he grabbed Shura's small hand. He began to walk away with Shura, away from Mikai when he stopped and looked back at her. "I wait for the day I can meet you once more Mikai. For both Shura's benefit as well as mine."

Mikai watched as Yomi and Shura walked out of the room and it seemed as if they were walking out of her life. The two of them had been a big part of her life for the past year and now she was not going to see them as often as she had before. It was going to take some getting used to but she would grow used to it.

_Now…_ Mikai thought as she looked out of the large window behind her. _If only Yusuke would wake up.

* * *

_

Yusuke's eyes opened, him thinking that he was still in the fight with Yomi, only to see a demon nurse sitting next to him with a small clipboard in her arms.

"Welcome back Mr. Urameshi," she said as she stood up. "I'll go and let everyone know that you're awake now."

Yusuke blinked as he watched the nurse walk over to the front door. She opened it only to have Chuu, Suzuki, Jin, Touya, Rinku, Shishiwakamaru, and Mikai walk in with smiles on their faces.

"It's about time!" Mikai said playfully as she walked over to Yusuke's bedside with everyone else.

"What happened?" Yusuke asked, not knowing what happened with his fight against Yomi.

"You lost," Jin said with a smile.

"But…" Yusuke remembered how both he and Yomi were going to fall over in defeat. What could have stopped him from falling?

"Yomi won because he heard his little runt scream out for him," Chuu answered, almost hearing Yusuke's question.

"Damn." Yusuke sighed only to have another question enter his mind. "Who won?"

"Yusuke." Kurama said as he walked into the room. "I'm happy to see that you're awake now."

"Why how long have I been out?" Yusuke asked.

"A week," Mikai answered with a smile. "You wanna see who won?"

* * *

Yusuke was carried to the main stadium by Kurama with Mikai by his side. They walked onto the top level and looked down onto the main stadium and Yusuke saw Enki standing on the platform with a smile on his face and a microphone in his hands.

"Enki won?" Yusuke asked with a small laugh.

Enki raised the microphone and began to speak into it. "As the new ruler of the Makai I do have a few things to say. First, I would like to announce that in three years, another tournament will be held to decide the new ruler of the Makai."

Demons booed, and cheered. Some were happy at the fact that they would be able to get another chance to fight and try to become the leader of the Makai, and others hated the idea of doing everything all over again.

"And another rule," Enki announced. "The Ningenkai is not to be bothered. For too long have we been fighting with humans so as long as I'm ruling, no demon shall bother humans or enter the human realm to cause trouble."

"I wonder how Yomi is taking this," Yusuke commented as he listened to everything Enki said.

"He's not here," Kurama answered. "He left earlier."

**000000000**

"This is were I take my leave," Yomi said as he looked at Kurama. "Shura and I will be walking around, training for the next tournament."

"Very well." Kurama smiled. "Good luck."

"Next time I enter I'm gonna be stronger then Yusuke and you Kurama!" Shura announced as he pointed towards Kurama.

"I look forward to it," Kurama said gently.

"Kurama?" Yomi asked as Shura began to punch the air. Kurama looked back up at the blind demon. "Watch Mikai. Keep her close to your heart always. She's a woman who's personality plays many different roles and I want you to be the one to see her true self."

"I will." Kurama closed his eyes gently and then opened them once more.

"Come Shura." Yomi tugged on the small boy gently.

"Right."

The both of them began to walk away, and as Kurama watched, Shura turned around and stuck his tongue out at the red head.

"Kurama," Yomi said loud enough for Kurama to hear. "I hope to see you soon."  
_The fox wins once more._ Yomi thought.

_You too Yomi. _Kurama thought as he watched the two of them walk away. _You too._

**000000000000**

Enki finished his speech, leaving everyone in awe. Yusuke sighed, as everyone around him was happy with what had taken place in the year's tournament.

"Mikai?" Yusuke asked as he looked over at her.

"Yeah?" she answered.

"Can you help me back to my room? I've got to talk to you."

"Sure." She turned back towards everyone else. "I'll meet you all at the spot to say goodbye in an hour okay?"

"Okay meet ya there then!" Chuu said happily.

Yusuke wrapped his arm around Mikai's neck and the two walked away from the other group and down into the hallway.

The two walked far away from the group of the others, no saying anything to each other. It wasn't until Mikai felt Yusuke pull away a bit that she spoke.

"You don't need me anymore?" she asked playfully.

"I wanted to talk to you about all of this," Yusuke said uneasily. "Do you still want to do everything we talked about? I mean are you sure about everything?"

"One hundred percent," Mikai answered. "I have to do this so don't worry about anything."

A hallway came in front of the two and Mikai stopped walking. Yusuke looked back at her with some kind of uncertainly.

"I'm gonna go and pack now," she said.

"Okay," Yusuke answered. "I'll meet you by Raizen's grave."

"Right." Mikai sighed a bit. "I'll be there soon."

Mikai turned away and began to walk down the hallway, leaving Yusuke behind when he heard her say something.

"Yusuke…thank you for everything," she said as she walked away.

"You're welcome…Mikai," Yusuke answered as he continued to walk down the opposite hallway.

* * *

"So what are you and the little lady doin' after this?" Chuu asked Kurama as he and the rest of the group walked out of the stadium to the place where they were do to meet Yusuke and Mikai.

"We've talked about it…and Mikai's coming to live with me until she finds a place of her own or until she finds a family member to stay with but," Kurama answered, as he blushed a bit. "I'm thinking of asking to stay there until we've gone out for a bit longer…and then I might ask her to marry me."

"Go Kurama!" Rinku teased with a smile.

Everyone in the group laughed a bit as they stood there waiting for Yusuke and Mikai. Moments later, Yusuke showed up, without Mikai.

"Hey where's the little lady?" Chuu asked as he looked around.

"She told me to tell you guys that she won't be able to say goodbye," Yusuke said with a sigh. "I don't know why but I'm not going to let that get in my way. I'm here to say goodbye to all of you."

"Alright then!" Chuu said happily. "I'll just have to get the little lady next time I sees her! Well goodbye Yusuke! I can't wait for three years!"

"Me either!" Jin said happily.

"Bye!" Rinku said with a smile.

They all said their goodbyes to each other, and then Yusuke watched as they all walked away from each other once more. It was an image Yusuke had seen so long ago when the Dark Tournament had ended and he never thought he would see it again but here he was looking at it once more. Only this time, he knew that he would see them once more in three years time.

"I guess this is goodbye also," Kurama said as Yusuke looked towards the red head.

"I'll see you soon so don't worry. I'll be back in the Ningenkai in two years so don't worry," Yusuke said with a slight sigh. "Until then."

"Goodbye Yusuke."

Yusuke began to walk away when he said something. "Mikai told me to tell you to meet her near the lake where you two met earlier. I don't know where that is but I'm just passing on the message."

"Thank you Yusuke," Kurama answered as he turned away and walked away from their meeting spot, missing Yusuke already.

"I'll see you soon!" Yusuke yelled as he too walked away.

Kurama closed his eyes, hoping that Yusuke would come back to the Ningenkai for there wasn't anything there for him to come back to expect maybe Mikai.

_That's his only reason besides us._ Kurama thought. _Mikai_.

* * *

R&R please! 


	20. Farewell To The Future

I don't own YYH or any of it's characters. I only own Mikai and Sotto.

This is the part I've been waiting to post for forever. This part has been replaying over and over again in my head ever since I first thought of this story so I hope you enjoy it!

* * *

Hiei was standing under a tree with Sotto by his side. Small beads of water were forming under her eyes as he looked away from her, hating to see her in pain.

"I'll meet you by our tree in two years," Hiei said as he looked up at Sotto. "I promise."

"I know," Sotto said as she wiped the tears falling out of her eyes with the back of her arm. "But it's just hard to let you go after just finding you."

Hiei tugged on Sotto, letting her know that she had to bend down a bit for something he wanted. She bent down a bit and he kissed her gently.

"I'm always near you," he whispered. He reached down to her right hand and let his fingers run over her ring finger. "I'm always right here." He then moved his hand up towards her chest and let his hand rest over her heart.

"Aw Hiei!" Sotto wrapped her arms around Hiei and held him tightly. He blushed as his hand slipped further down and gently touched her well-developed chest. His head landed near her neck and he soon found himself resting his head on her neck.

The two stood there holding each other and time seemed to fly by them quickly. Hiei didn't want to leave his kitten, he wanted to go back to the Ningenkai with her even though he wanted nothing more then to stay in the Makai for the past few years but here, was not where his heart was. Sotto would be in the Ningenkai, and that would be were his heart would be. He wanted to go back to the Ningenkai and possibly work on building his family.

"I'll miss you," Sotto whispered as she began to let go of Hiei.

"I will too." Hiei pulled away and looked into Sotto's eyes.

Sotto stood there as the tears falling from her eyes stopped. She took a step back, another, and then another until she found herself running away from Hiei. He stood there and watched her run in the direction of a portal until he could no longer see her.

Hiei once again felt the feeling of losing something he loved. Feeling this, he grabbed the tear gem, which hung off of his neck tightly. But then he realized that this time would be different. He would go back to Sotto and he wouldn't give Sotto up for anything. Anything and nothing. He wouldn't make that mistake of letting something go again. He still hated himself for what he had done with Yukina, and he wasn't going to do it again.

"Hiei?"

Hiei looked to his right side and saw Kurama walking out of the woods with a bag over his shoulders.

"What?" he hissed.

"You look tired and your face is red. Are you okay?" Kurama teased as he walked over to the shorter man.

"Fine."

"You've got the smell of Sotto all over you. What have you two been doing?"

Hiei blushed, and gave it away to the red head. He giggled a bit and brought his hand to his mouth to hide his smile.

"Here," Hiei hissed as he tossed Kurama his tear gem. He quickly took his hand away from his mouth and caught the small tear gem in his hands. He looked down at it and smiled.

"Thank you but I really don't think of you as more then a friend Hiei." Kurama teased as he walked over to Hiei.

"You idiot it's for Yukina!" Hiei hissed.

"I'm kidding." Kurama smiled. "But…" Kurama gave the tear gem back to Hiei. "I really think that you should give it back to her yourself. You're coming back to the Ningenkai correct?"

"Yeah."

"Make things better Hiei, and give it to her yourself."

"You haven't changed from the day I met you."

Hiei took the tear gem back and wrapped it around his neck once more. Kurama was right as always and he figured that he'd better do it anyway.

"Good luck to you and Mikai," Hiei hissed as he began to walk away.

"Thank you." Kurama smiled. "I'll be waiting for return."

Hiei walked away from his long time friend and back to spot where he promised to meet Mukuro in order to start his training with her. He knew that Sotto wouldn't have liked him working with her, but he promised that this would be the last thing he would do that upset her.

* * *

Kurama walked over to the spot where he was supposed to meet Mikai, and he saw her standing there with an upset look on her face. He walked over to her and smiled.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked as he picked up her chin.

He reached down to her right arm and began to walk away only to feel that she wasn't moving at all. He looked back at her to see her in the same position as small water beads formed under her eyes.

"I'm not going," she whispered.

"What?" Kurama asked as he turned to her quickly. She couldn't have said what he thought she had said could she?

"I'm not going back to the Ningenkai," she repeated as she looked back up at him, small tears falling from her eyes. "I can't."

"Why?" Kurama asked desperately as he grabbed her arms. "Why can't you?"

"This power inside of me," Mikai answered. "Remember when Raizen died and I knocked over that tower at Granada with my power? What if that happens in the Ningenkai!? I'll kill people dammit and I can't do that!"

Kurama let go of Mikai. There was nothing he could do about her power. She had to train in a place where she wouldn't worry about hurting people and the Makai was the perfect place. He felt so helpless as he watched his future with Mikai shatter at the simple fact that it may take her years to train and get control of her powers. He felt so helpless and empty about the fact that he couldn't help Mikai, all he could do was sit there and watch Mikai try to understand everything that was going on with her powers and in her heart. He had to let fate go on with Mikai.

"So you want to stay here?" Kurama asked as he began to feel his eyes burn. "Then I'll stay with you."

"NO!" Mikai yelled as she broke out crying. "You have to go back to your mom! It's selfish of me to ask you to stay here and I hate feeling selfish! Just go back to the Ningenkai without me!"

"I am not leaving without you!" Kurama yelled in an out of character answer that caught Mikai's attention immediately. She looked into the green eyes that she loved and saw tears falling from them.

"I don't want to be alone again!" he whimpered. "You're the only thing keeping me in the Ningenkai as Shuuichi and now you're telling me that you want to stay in the place that I was avoiding because it pulled me back into my Youko form?"

"But Kurama," Mikai whimpered. He ignored what she was going to say and wrapped his arms around her neck once more.

"I don't want you to leave," Kurama whimpered.

Everything sunk into Mikai. She had never thought that Kurama felt so lonely while she was gone. She hadn't seen his loneliness and she had never thought about how much it hurt him deep inside of him. But she was doing everything for a reason and in order for Kurama to understand everything; she had to tell him everything she had been hiding from him.

"It hurts….," Mikai whispered. "Everything…hurts…"

"What?" Kurama pulled away from Mikai and looked at her.

"Being in the Ningenkai all my life has caused me to hurt. Every moment in the Ningenkai, humans are dying and I can feel their souls pass through my body, tearing at me just as Raizen's Spirit did. Raizen's hurt physically because of his power but when a normal person dies, it's full of emotion and when they pass through me, so does that emotion. That hurts…the fear in most of them hurts. Kurama…I have to train it so it doesn't hurt anymore…and I'm sorry," Mikai whimpered as tears cascaded down her face. "That it's selfish of me to not want to feel this pain anymore…and I'm sorry."

Kurama had no idea that it could hurt that badly for Mikai. He felt stupid for crying and wanting her to come back with him now that he knew but he didn't want to let her go. He had no idea why she hadn't told him before that she was always hurting, but he came to the conclusion that she didn't want to make Kurama think that she was weak in anything. Mikai had always been tough because the people around her were tough; Yusuke was one of those people. Yusuke was tough on the inside but sweet inside and Mikai saw that, and figured that Yusuke was living so in order for herself to live, she had to be strong and face the world with a tough exterior.

"Then I'll stay here with you," Kurama said as he placed his hand on Mikai's shoulder. "I'll train with you."

"You can't." Mikai shook her head back and forth. "Raizen told me that the only person I'd be able to train with would have to be the person who was there when the pain first began."

"And that is?"

"Yusuke."

"Yusuke," Kurama hissed as he looked away. This must have been the thing that Yusuke and Mikai were always talking about. Yusuke had to have known at didn't tell him at all.

"If I train with Yusuke for two years…" Mikai sniffled. "Raizen said that I should have everything under control."

"Two years?" Kurama asked. Could he really go two years without seeing Mikai? The six months was hard enough so how could she expect him to last two years without seeing her? "When did Raizen tell you this?"

"The first time I snuck off to see Yusuke…I went to go and talk to Raizen about what I should do about the burning feeling in my stomach. He told me everything…everything."

He remembered when Yomi had asked him if he had known where Mikai was. That was where she went. Kurama thought. She went to go and find answers from Raizen that Yomi couldn't give her.

"Two years…" Mikai also repeated breaking Kurama's thoughts. "Then everything should be over…and I'll come back to the Ningenkai."

Kurama closed his eyes and then opened them. "I'll wait two years for you to come back to the Ningenkai."

"Kurama!" Mikai buried her face in Kurama's chest and began to cry heavily. He stood there, wrapping his arms around her as he too cried. He felt her back rise and fall quickly because of all of the quick breaths she was taking.

"I'll wait," Kurama whimpered as he began to cry heavily. "As long as I have to for you."

"K-Kurama," Mikai whimpered.

They didn't want to let each other go but they knew in order for their future to be well and happy like any other normal couple, they had to wait. Wait just a little bit longer and then everything would be okay be between them. Everything.

After minutes flew by, Mikai pulled away from Kurama. He looked at the redness on her face, which came from crying and gently touched her cheek with his right hand. His wiped away a small tear which fell from her face, and they both smiled.

"You'd better get going," Mikai said as she looked up the man she loved. "You can't keep your mother waiting forever."

"Come to my house," Kurama said as he kissed Mikai gently. He pulled away as she touched his face. "I'll be waiting."

"I'll come…" Mikai took a quick breath of air. "In two years…I promise."

He reached up to her ear, and pulled his hand back with a small white rose in his hands. Mikai blushed as he handed it to her.

"Your favorite color of rose," Kurama said gently. "It's a promise rose…it won't fade until you come back to me."

Mikai looked down at the rose and then back up at Kurama. She blinked and kissed him gently on the lips, pressing the rose between them. She pulled back minutes later and smiled.

"I want you to have this," Mikai said as she pushed the rose into Kurama's chest. "That way, you'll know that I'll came back to you. So when you're lonely and feel empty inside, you can just look over at this and remember that I'll be back soon."

Kurama smiled and took the rose in his hands. "I'll remember that. Now, please be safe." Kurama whispered as he petted Mikai's face.

"I will," Mikai whispered back as she rubbed her face into Kurama's hand. He pulled away and turned towards the right. "Just remember…meeting and parting are the same thing…only in different directions."

"I love you," he said as he heard Mikai speak.

"I love you too," Mikai said. "I will meet you again because we're not saying goodbye. We're just…taking a break."

Kurama began to walk away, walk towards the area where the portal to the Ningenkai could be found. He didn't turn around to look back at Mikai, he kept his head forward for he feared looking back and waiting to stay even though he already said that he would let her be alone.

* * *

Yusuke stood in front of Raizen's grave after seeing him. He sighed as he turned away from his father's grave and looked out towards the Makai, looking for Mikai. He knew that this was going to be a bit risky for him, after all he did have feelings for Mikai and an idea popped into his head which he hated himself for thinking.

_What if Mikai and I stayed here in the Makai just her and I? We could train all the time and maybe… _Yusuke thought as he shook his head back and forth. _That's completely stupid Yusuke! What the hell are you thinking!?_

"Hey Yusuke!" Mikai said as she ran over to the black haired boy. "I'm ready to get going."

"It's about time!" Yusuke said as he looked over at the woman he had known for so long.

"Jeez!" Mikai yelled back. "Let's not start now! Come on let's just go already!"

"Fine." Yusuke turned his back away from Mikai. "I guess this is where I say good bye to you for the next six weeks."

"And then we'll meet back up here to train," Yusuke continued.

"Right." Mikai nodded.

"Okay then I guess I'll see you then okay? Be safe." Mikai turned her back away from Yusuke and began to walk away, with her own questions in her mind.

"See ya!" Yusuke yelled as he too turned his back and began to walk away. He, of course, having his own list of questions in his mind.

What if Yomi found Mikai in the Makai and convinced her to stay there with him forever? Would Yusuke go and get her but if he did, then what? Would he bring her back to Kurama? Or would he keep her in the Makai with him alone. That thought just brought up the idea of being in the Makai with her so that maybe…he could be with her.

_Don't think that! _Yusuke thought. _There's no way I could do something like take Mikai away from Kurama! They love each other way too much. But…_

He knew now that he liked Mikai and he knew that telling Mikai that he liked her would only hurt her. He had to keep his mouth shut even though he did want to tell her how he felt, for if he didn't, he would just hurt Mikai and Kurama.

What would he do with Mikai anyway? He had nothing to give her, unlike Kurama who was smart and had a good future in front of him. But then the memories of what had happened before came to his mind and he discovered that he didn't need a good future in order to make Mikai happy. She was happy with plain old Yusuke, which made it seem that she was happy not knowing what her future was.

"_I really hate having plans. If I'm gonna be happy, then just throw random things at me."_

He remembered Mikai saying that. He remembered how she didn't want her future planned out for her, she just wanted to live everyday like it was going to end in the morning, so she could say that she never wasted a day.

_I'm not going to ask her to stay here with me._ Yusuke decided. _But I will tell her how I feel._

Mikai, on the other hand, was thinking other things. She feared Yusuke dying out on the battlefield, or him not showing up at their meeting spot. She never wanted to lose Yusuke for a lifetime or even for a moment.

_Yusuke…be okay when I see you again._ Mikai thought. _Please…be there._

Yusuke not meeting her at their meeting spot would be the thing that Mikai feared the most. She didn't like the idea of waiting for Yusuke, and him never showing up. That would place the question of "what happened" in her head and she would have to go and look for something that would ease her mind such as a body.

_Yusuke __will be__ there._ Mikai reassured herself. _He always has been and nothing is going to stop him this time._

Yusuke had always been where he promised to be and he had never broken a promise to her. He knew that this too was important to Mikai and he wouldn't stop doing everything he had been doing. Yusuke was going to be Yusuke no matter what.

The two teens with so much history behind them away from each other and hoped to see each other once more. They both had been hiding things from each other for years and with the help of the Makai tournament Yusuke had set up, they both had discovered a few things about each other. Yusuke, found out how Mikai used to like him and how she had tried to ask him out in her own way, and now he discovered that he liked her. But, because he liked her, he wasn't going to say anything. Mikai found out just how much she loved Kurama, and how to control her own body. So much had been learned, so now the two had so much more to lose.

* * *

R&R please!! 


	21. Losing Everything

I don't own YYH or any of it's characters. I only own Mikai, Yuzu, Reijii, and Sotto.

Hope you likey! **0000000**-shows a flashback as normal. Enjoy

* * *

"So are you serious? Everyone was defeated?" Kuwabara asked in disbelief.

Kurama and Kuwabara were sitting at a train station, waiting for their train to come. It had been two years since they had returned from the Makai, and they were all waiting for Yusuke and Mikai's return.

"Yes, everyone was defeated," Kurama said as he nodded his head. "Everyone fought the best they could though, and that's all we can ask for."

"Huh." Kuwabara took a drink out of his soda. He brought it back down, taking a breath. "Good thing I didn't enter, I know my power limits."

Two girls then walked over to the two, one with blonde hair, and another brown hair. They were talking to one another but once they saw Kuwabara, they stopped talking and walked over to him.

"Hey Kuwabara where are you going?" the blonde asked as he looked at the orange haired boy.

"Private matter," Kuwabara answered as he threw his soda can into a near by garbage can.

The brown haired girls eyes shifted towards Kurama. "Kuwabara, you're not cheating on Reijii are you? Why are you hanging out with another girl?"

Kuwabara twitched. "He's a man! Can't you see that?"

The blonde walked over to Kurama's face and looked at it carefully. "Well he is." She giggled.

"You should tell Reijii that you're swinging to the other side," the brown haired girl teased.

"Oh shut up!" Kuwabara yelled.

A train pulled up and the two girls boarded. They looked back at Kuwabara and began to giggle with each other.

"Tell Reijii we said hi!" the blonde said as the train doors closed, and took off. They two of the boys were quiet for a few seconds.

"Sorry about that," Kuwabara said, breaking the silence.

"It's alright." Kurama laughed a bit. "By the way who's Reijii?"

"My girlfriend." Kuwabara grinned. "We met after I predicted an earthquake in my freshmen year."

"A girlfriend?" Kurama asked. "That's good."

"Kazu!" a woman yelled.

Kuwabara and Kurama looked to the right, where the voice had come from, and saw a young woman standing there. She had dark blond hair, which was tied back into a ponytail with a few strands hanging down in front of her face. Her light green eyes were hidden behind a thin pair of glasses, and she was wearing blue jeans and a light blue shirt, which showed off her well-curved body.

"Reijii!" Kuwabara said happily as he got up and ran towards her. "I've missed you!"

"You saw me yesterday," Reijii answered playfully.

"But still my heart aches for you!" he said as he wrapped his arm around her, and brought her back over to the red head. "Kurama, this is Reijii the love of my life."

"Pleased to meet you." Kurama stood up and gently shook Reijii's hand only to discover that she had a very manly hand shake.

"You're Mikai's boyfriend aren't you?" Reijii asked.

Kurama looked a bit shocked but then he smiled. "Yes if you want to call me that."

"You look like someone Mikai would like." Reijii smiled. "I'm one of her friends from America. I came here after I found out she went to the Makai to wait for her."

A train pulled up, and the three looked at it. They knew that it was their ride so they got on it, found a place to stand, and the train took off. They didn't say anything to each other as they watched the trees outside fly by them.

"The exams to get into High School were hard," Kuwabara said, breaking the silence between the trio. "Man," he sighed, "I thought I would be taking them with Urameshi. Damn it's been two years since I've seen Urameshi…"

"He's still the same," Kurama said as he looked at the orange haired boy.

"You still have some contact with him."

"Going back to the Makai…" Kurama sighed. "I haven't see Yusuke in six months."

"You think he'll come back?" Reijii asked as she looked at the two boys.

"He's just dealing with some business," Kurama answered. "But he's promised all of us that he would come back in two years…maybe with Mikai."

"Have you seen her at all?" Reijii asked.

Kurama shook his head. "I haven't even heard anything about her."

"Damn those two," Kuwabara hissed. "Always stalling out on other people."

* * *

The three arrived at a station where they had sat down to get something to eat before they went back on another train to get to their destination. Kurama was sitting across the table from Kuwabara and Reijii who the orange haired boy had his arm around.

"Hey Kurama?" Kuwabara asked. "How is it that you can cross through the demon barrier? When we fought Sensui you couldn't get through at all."

Kurama smiled. "There isn't a barrier up anymore."

"WHAT?!" Kuwabara yelled. "Demons could be running around us right now!"

"Calm down!" Reijii said as she looked at Kuwabara.

"What's all the screaming about?" Shizuru asked as she walked over to the group with a cigarette hanging out of her mouth.

"Hello Shizuru," Kurama said as he looked up at the older woman.

"Hey Kurama!" she said happily. "How's my favorite red head?"

"Be careful sis!" Kuwabara yelled. "There are demons all around us! Get close to me in case we have to fight!"

"Kuwabara calm down!" Kurama said, becoming rather embarrassed. "A verbal agreement between demons that Enki set up prevents demons from coming into the Ningenkai to cause problems."

"That's good," Kuwabara said as he relaxed and sat back down in his seat.

As everyone began to calm down once more, they heard a small knocking coming from the glass window next to them. They looked to see Sotto standing there with a smile on her face.

"Sotto!" Kurama said happily.

The kitten walked away from the window and then seconds later, she appeared next to everyone.

"Hey you guys," Sotto said happily.

"Hello Sotto," Reijii said as she looked over at her. "How's Spirit World?"

"Fine." Sotto grinned.

"Who's this?" Shizuru asked as she looked at the kitten.

"Oh I'm Sotto," she said as she looked at the older brown haired woman.

"She's Hiei's fiancé." Kurama giggled. For some reason Kurama always giggled when he told someone that Hiei was going to be married.

"Hiei's fiancé!" Kuwabara yelled as he looked at Sotto. "You're going to marry Hiei?" He couldn't believe it, Hiei had found someone else he would tolerate and let be near him.

"Yep." Sotto nodded.

"Good luck." Shizuru laughed.

* * *

The five of them were now sitting on the train, each of them doing their own thing as they waited for the train to reach their destination. Everyone was quiet until Shizuru began to laugh.

"Check this out," she said as she showed everyone the newspaper she was reading.

There in the paper was a small drawing of a small Hiei with a large head. The newspaper claimed that the picture of Hiei was an alien that the reporter said that he had seen.

"That's Hiei!" Kuwabara yelled. "But I thought he was in the Makai!"

"He is." Kurama giggled due to the picture. "But you see because Enki dropped the barrier between the Makai and Ningenkai, sometimes humans slip into the Makai in order to make sure nothing happens, the patrol picks them up."

"Patrol?" Kuwabara asked.

"It's a collection of demons who lost in the tournament," Kurama explained.

* * *

Back in the Makai, Hiei was riding Mukuro's bug like vehicle. He was standing next to another demon who sniffed the air which was running over the both of them.

"Another human," the demon said. "There's another one over there."

"Damn…again?" Hiei hissed.

The two demons walked over to a grassy area and found a human man lying there with a camera in his hands.

"Take him." Hiei hissed.

"Should I treat his injured lung?" the other demon asked as he looked at the three eyed demon.

"No." Hiei looked away. "If he dies, he dies."

Hiei returned from his patrol and walked into Mukuro's room. She was there sleeping but woke up once Hiei entered the room. She watched as he walked over to her table and placed his feet on the table.

"How was patrol?" she asked.

"Boring." He took a deep breath. "I'm leaving."

"I understand." Mukuro nodded her head. "You are free after all."

"I don't know when I'll be back." He stood back up quickly. He began to feel a bit anxious to get back in the Ningenkai where he would be able to see the woman he had been waiting to see for two years.

"Do what you want." Mukuro sighed.

Hiei walked out of the room he had just walked into, and began to walk out of the insect vehicle. He knew that Sotto would be waiting for him, and he couldn't wait to see her again, even though he didn't act like it.

* * *

"Hiei will be coming back soon," Kurama said happily.

"He'd better." Sotto puffed up her cheeks.

* * *

The group was now walking up the stairs which led to Genkai's temple, the place where they had been summoned to. The steps were still the same as they had been years ago when Kuwabara first walked up them to fight in Genkai's tournament. Everything looked so untouched by time.

They walked up to Genkai's gate and looked around at the beauty. It wasn't long before another woman appeared before them, smiling.

Her short light brown hair, and hazel eyes caught Kurama's attention immediately as he recognized her as being Mikai's friend Yuzu, that he had met back when he had come to the Ningenkai to take a small break from Yomi. Only this time, she was wearing a black shirt and jeans.

"Yuzu!" Sotto yelled.

The group began to walk over to her as Sotto ran ahead of them and greeted her first. She hugged her tightly as Yuzu did the same.

"I haven't seen you in forever!" Yuzu said happily.

"I know!" The kitten pulled away and let Yuzu look at the rest of the group. "Reijii's here too!"

"Hey Reijii," Yuzu said as Reijii waved. "So you guys are here to see Genkai right?" Yuzu asked as she looked at everyone else.

"Yeah," Shizuru answered. "I've never seen you around."

"Oh I'm Mikai's best friend from America. I came here with Reijii to wait for Mikai to come back from the Makai. But right now I'm here helping Genkai keep this place clean," Yuzu explained as she looked over towards Kurama and smiled.

"_I have to bring her back. If not for you, then for me. I promise that in one year, I will return with Mikai." _

His promise to her and himself. He had broken it two years ago when he had let Mikai go and let her stay in the Makai in order to train. He began to feel empty once more, a feeling he hadn't felt for awhile because he always knew that Mikai would come back, but now seeing her friends who were too waiting for her, made him miss her even more now.

"Hey you guys!" Yukina said as she appeared from Genkai's temple. "Why don't you come in already?"

All of them gathered inside of Genkai's temple, kneeling down in front of her as she took a drink of the tea which sat in front of her. She placed the cup down and looked back at all of them, scanning their faces.

"Now all I need is my two dimwits," she said with a small sigh. "What are those two idiots doing anyway?"

"I don't know," Kurama answered. "I haven't seen either of them for the past six months. Even going to the Makai I haven't heard anything about them."

"We haven't either," Koenma said as he appeared next to the group with Botan.

"Hey what are you doing here?" Sotto asked as she looked at the two. "Even on my day off I can't get a break."

"Genkai called us here too," Botan said as she sat down with everyone else.

"Why are we here?" Kuwabara asked.

"I wanted to talk to you all about my death," Genkai answered, causing the whole room to grow quiet. "We all know that it's going to happen and I wanted all of you to know that I'm giving you this temple. From the stone wall on the east to the beach on the west, this place is yours. It's a little far away from the cities and that's the way I want to keep it. It's a place to hide from demons and train so I want all of you to have it."

"Really?" Sotto asked in amazement.

"Why don't you all have a look around?" Genkai smiled. "Oh by the way Kurama?"

"Yes?" he answered.

"Mikai's clothing is still here from when she stayed up here years ago. I was wondering if you wanted to pick them up before she left."

"I will." Kurama smiled.

Everyone was standing outside, looking up at the bright blue sky, and the trees around him or her. Genkai's temple was going to be a perfect place to live for them, or for anyone who wanted to live there. It held so many memories for them, and they loved being there. Everything would be perfect.

"I've got an idea!" Botan said happily. "Let's go and check out the sunset at the beach!"

"You think we'll make it?" Sotto asked as she looked towards the sky.

"If we run fast enough," Yuzu said happily.

"I hate running," Reijii hissed.

As the group ran down the stairs and towards the beach, Kurama caught Kuwabara standing on the stairs, looking up them longingly.

"What's wrong?" Kurama asked.

"I first met Genkai when I came up the stairs with Urameshi. It was our first case together…I fought Rando, and then we went on to fight the four Holy Beasts, then we went to save Yukina, and then the Dark Tournament. Then…Urameshi left…to the Makai. To think everything began on this one staircase. It's all happened so fast."

"So much has happened," Kurama said as he too looked up the stairs. "And it's hard to remember everything."

"Come on Kazu!" Reijii yelled.

Kuwabara turned away from the staircase and looked down the stairs at the woman he loved. "I'm coming my love!"

"Speed it up!" she yelled back.

* * *

The waves of the ocean hit the beach softly as everyone ran towards them and began to play in the water. Kurama and Shizuru were both sitting on a log they had found as Shizuru smoked.

"I found a starfish!" Kuwabara said happily as he held up a large red starfish.

"Look at these shells I found!" Botan said happily.

"Ya know if you throw the shells back into the ocean they'll grant your wish in gratitude from putting them back in the ocean," Sotto said as she walked over to Botan.

"Really?" Botan said happily. "Let's try it!"

Botan handed shells out to everyone around her, and turned around towards Kurama. "Do you want to try it Kurama?"

"Sure." He smiled and walked over to Botan. She handed him one and he took it and stood next to everyone on the beach.

"One, two, three!" Botan yelled as she, Kuwabara, Yuzu, Reijii, and Yukina threw their shells in. They hit the water and sunk down to the bottom of the ocean.

"Hey…" Kuwabara said as he looked at Kurama and Sotto. "Why didn't you throw yours?"

"We wanna do something." Sotto said as she took a step backwards with Kurama. "The further away we are from the water, the more of a chance or wish has of coming true!"

"I wish you would have told me that!" Reijii yelled.

Sotto and Kurama stepped back as far as they could and looked at each other. They nodded and placed their hands backwards ready to throw. They then pushed forward, and their shells landed in the water, and sunk to the bottom of the ocean.

"Yes!" Sotto cheered. "It worked!"

"Hey did any of you make a wish for me?" a familiar voice said.

Everyone grew quiet as they turned around and saw Yusuke standing there with a blue bag hanging over his shoulders. He grinned as he looked at everyone standing there.

"Yusuke!" Botan yelled.

"You stupid asshole!" Kuwabara yelled as he ran over to Yusuke and caught him in a headlock. "What took you so long to get back!?"

"Cut it out!" Yusuke yelled playfully as he moved around in Kuwabara's arms, trying to break free.

"I told you not to come back until you were the King of the Makai!" Kuwabara kicked Yusuke.

"Next time." Yusuke grinned but as he looked back at everyone else, he lost his smile and stopped playing with Kuwabara.

"What's wrong?" Kuwabara asked as he looked at Yusuke.

"I need to talk to Kurama," he said seriously.

"_In two years…I promise."_

Kurama stepped up and walked towards Yusuke as he did the same. Yusuke reached down into his pocket and pulled out a small necklace with a small crystal on it. He handed it to Kurama as small beads of water formed under his eyes.

"Mikai isn't coming back," Yusuke said gritting his teeth, and hating himself for saying anything.

"W-What?" Kurama asked not believing what he had heard. "What do you mean?"

"We were training…" Yusuke sniffled. "When she fell into a spell. It's called a Rajon hole. It traps you forever…and places you in a new world…there's a ten percent chance that Mikai will show up in the Ningenkai unharmed."

**000000000**

Yusuke and Mikai were fighting a horde of demons, and the demons were pushing them farther and farther away from each other until Yusuke couldn't see Mikai anymore.

"Mikai!" he yelled as he kicked a demon out of his way and ran until he could see her. She was standing near a black hole placed in the ground as a demon kicked her near it.

"Mikai watch out dammit!" he yelled as he ran over to her.

The demon kicked Mikai in the leg, and she fell back into the hole, something slipping off of her wrist as she did so.

"MIKAI!" Yusuke ran over to the hole, kicking demons out of his way. He reached the edge of the hole and saw Mikai hanging on to a nook she had found.

"Mikai come on! Pull yourself up!" Yusuke yelled as he dropped his right arm down towards her. "Come on I'll help you!"

"Dammit Yusuke!" Mikai yelled. "I would if I could!"

She reached her left hand up towards the black haired boy and he saw that it had been dragged against the rocks around her as she fell. The skin was torn as she was bleeding badly.

"Come on!" Yusuke yelled as he stretched his hand down further.

Their hands met and Mikai's left hand grabbed onto Yusuke's right but she had a hard time holding onto him because of the blood. She grabbed his hand with her other hand also only to feel herself begin to slip.

"Dammit don't you fall!" Yusuke warned.

"Go back Yusuke," Mikai said with strain behind her voice. "Go back to the Ningenkai."

"I'm not going without you!"

"You have too!" Mikai yelled. "You have to go with or without me! You have to tell everyone not to wait for me!"

"Don't talk like that!" Yusuke yelled.

"Don't be stupid," Mikai said with a laugh as she began to slip. "Go back…you ass."

Mikai's hand slipped from Yusuke's, and she fell backwards into the black hole. Yusuke watched as she fell backwards and called her name over and over again but nothing happened.

_I've got to get her!_ Yusuke thought as he began to slip in. _I can't leave this place without her!_

Yusuke was about to slip in, he was going to fall towards Mikai and try to bring her back but he felt something kick him out of the way, and he rolled away from the hole. His face hit the ground over and over again. He looked towards the hole and saw it close.

"Dammit!" he yelled as he stood up.

"Good she's gone." The demon laughed.

Yusuke felt something rise up in him, something that pushed him forward and when he came back to his senses, all of the demons around him were dead.

**0000000**

"No," Sotto whimpered as everyone looked back at her. "No…Mikai has to come back…I don't…I can't…"

The only family she had was gone within a matter of minutes. Once again Sotto would be alone and she would no longer have her sister to play around with or talk to about her problems. Her small family was gone, and she was left alone just as she was years ago.

"MIKAI!" Sotto cried as tears fell down her face.

"Sotto…" Botan walked over to her and wrapped her arms around her. "It's okay…everything will be okay!"

"Mikai…" Reijii puffed up her eyes as they began to burn. Kuwabara come to her and wrapped his arms around her, allowing her to cry on his shoulder.

"It's okay Reijii," Kuwabara said gently as tears began to fall from his eyes. "It's everything…will be okay."

"Mikai…" Yuzu fell onto her knees. "Mikai…you can't be gone! You just can't be!" She brought her hands to her face as she began to cry.

"I found this near the hole." Yusuke looked at the necklace. "I thought you should have it."

Kurama took it and looked down at it. It was the necklace he had given Mikai when they were in the Makai. It was supposed to remind him of promise that he made her but now it only reminded him of her being gone.

"There's still a chance," Kurama said as he looked up at Yusuke. "There's still a chance that she'll came back…right?"

"Just a ten percent chance." Yusuke sniffled as a small tear fell down his face.

"Then I'll wait." Kurama slipped the necklace into his pocket.

"Kurama you can't!" Botan protested. "It's not fair to you and your future!"

"I promised Mikai that I would wait as long as I had to for her," Kurama protested as a small tear fell down his face. "And I'm going to keep my promise to her."

Yusuke looked at Kurama, and Kurama at Yusuke. At that moment they both found each other at fault. Kurama blamed Yusuke deep within his mind for not watching Mikai and Yusuke blamed Kurama for being stupid enough to wait. Yusuke also seemed to be a bit restful towards Kurama for falling in love with Mikai for if she had never fallen in love with her, Yusuke would be the only one who would be getting hurt at the moment.

Yusuke was the first one to look away. He walked over towards Yuzu, the only one who didn't have someone to comfort her, and wrapped his arms around her.

"Tell me your name," Yusuke asked as he squeezed her.

"Yuzu…" She sniffled.

"Yuzu," Yusuke repeated as he held her tightly.

* * *

R&R please! 


	22. Numbing Feelings

I don't own YYH or any of it's characters. I only own Mikai, Yuzu, Sotto, and Reijii or course.

Last chapter was rather sad and this is going to get worse. Anyways, OOOOO means a flashback. Enjoy!

* * *

The ocean's waves hit the beach and dragged some of the sand back with it and even thought it was being selfish by taking sand back with it, the ocean left gifts of shells, and seaweed for the sand. The ocean gave something back to the sand as it took some of the sand back with it, and it was something that happened every minute of everyday. Somewhere, something was taking, and something was giving.

"Mikai…"

Kurama was standing near the ocean as he watched it move back and forth. He couldn't believe that Mikai wouldn't be coming back. Even though he knew that there was still a chance that she would come back, everything looked so grim. Ten out of one hundred wasn't good but it was better then nothing and even though Kurama told himself that ten percent was better then nothing, but that ninety percent chance of her never coming back just clouded everything else.

He looked down towards the necklace Yusuke had given Kurama, and he remembered when he had given it to Mikai, back when they were in the Makai.

**000000000**

Kurama and Mikai were sitting down with each other, with nothing behind them or nothing in front of them. They were alone in the area and everything was silent around them. Mikai's head was buried in his neck, and Kurama's arm was around her, hugging her tightly to him.

"Hey Kurama?" Mikai asked gently as she looked out in front of her.

"What?" he asked gently.

"When we get back to the Ningenkai…," she began. "Promise to take me to beach. I've been waiting to go to the beach for some reason lately."

"I promise." Kurama smiled as he hugged Mikai even tighter. "A date."

"Hey." Mikai looked up towards the red head. "We've never been on a date."

"No…," Kurama said as he thought about it. "We haven't." His hand breezed past a small crystal he had found and took it out of his pocket.

"What's that?" Mikai asked as she looked up at it.

"Something I found. I stole it along time ago and I found it here when I was out the other day," Kurama answered.

"It's pretty." Mikai took it gently from Kurama's hand and looked at it.

"You can have it," Kurama said as he rubbed his face next to Mikai's. "I don't need it for anything."

"Really?" Mikai asked as she rubbed her face back against his.

"It can be a little reminder of our promise." Kurama laughed gently. "I'll put it on a necklace and give it you."

"Okay," Mikai whispered as she kissed him gently.

It was a moment they had to fight for. Both of them were trying to keep it a secret from Yomi and they had snuck out in order to have some alone time. It was a nice reminder of something they were trying to protect with all of their hearts and sometimes moments like this were needed in order to remind them of what they both wanted.

"I love you," Mikai whispered as she kissed him on the side of his mouth.

"I love you too." Kurama smiled.

**000000000**

A part of him felt empty now. He would return home once more alone just as he had two years ago when he returned from the Makai.

"I'll keep waiting…," Kurama whispered as he watched the sun go down. "Until you come back…Mikai."

"Dammit why!?" Sotto cried.

Everyone expect for Kurama had retuned to Genkai's temple for they figured that Kurama needed to be alone for a while. They were all sitting in the main tearoom expect for Yusuke who was outside in the garden as fireflies flew around him.

"Sotto…," Botan said with sympathy.

"Why did she have to leave? She was my sister dammit! Why the hell….why the hell did she have to leave?" she yelled as she cried.

"What's wrong?"

Everyone looked towards the sliding doors and saw Hiei standing there with a smug look on his face. He walked over to his kitten and nudged his face next to hers.

"Mikai's…" Botan looked away. She didn't know how to say what happened to Mikai for there was still a chance that Mikai would and could come back but very thing looked so grim.

"She's gone!" Sotto yelled. "She's dead dammit!"

"Now Sotto she might not be dead," Botan said, trying to comfort Sotto. "We haven't seen her in Spirit World yet."

"Mikai's gone?" Hiei repeated in shock. "Hn." He looked away and wrapped his arms around his crying kitten.

"Hiei…," she whimpered as she clung onto him, hugging him tightly to her body.

* * *

"Kazu?"

Reijii and Kuwabara were sitting in a training room. They were back to back towards each other as they spoke.

"Yeah?" Kuwabara answered in a low tone.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Today…," Reijii said as her eyes began to burn once more. "You lost someone close to you…and I'm just afraid that no one will realize that you got hurt today too. You knew Mikai just as long as Yusuke did."

Kuwabara smiled even though small trails of water were falling down his face. He reached backwards and grabbed Reijii's hand, lacing his fingers with hers.

"And I'm sorry you lost a best friend too," Kuwabara said gently.

* * *

Yusuke was sitting in the garden as fireflies flew around him, lighting the dark sky even though a full moon was out. Everything looked so glum and dark to Yusuke though, as he sat there, thinking everything over.

"Hello dimwit," Genkai said as she walked over to Yusuke.

"She's gone…Genkai. Mikai's gone," Yusuke said with a low, tired tone.

Genkai's eyes widened and then closed. She sighed and walked over to Yusuke and gently sat down next to him, crossing her legs underneath herself.

"Did you see her die?" Genkai asked.

"She fell down a Rajon hole," Yusuke answered, not looking at the old woman but the moon high above him.

"Then there's still a chance," Genkai said, as she took looked up towards the moon.

"Ten. Ten percent."

The two were quiet for a few moments, both of them looking up towards the moon maybe almost wishing that they were both up there. Genkai had felt like this over and over again back when she had fallen for Toguro.

"Grandma?" Yusuke asked. "Can I tell you something?"

"Anything."

"When I was in the Makai, I fought Mikai…and in that time I discovered that…I liked her."

"You mean you care for her," Genkai corrected. "After all you still like her don't you?"

"Yeah." Yusuke sighed. "I don't know where any of the feelings came from."

Genkai laughed. "You never knew that Mikai liked you?"

"No!" Yusuke yelled getting rather annoyed that _everyone_ had known that Mikai liked him but he didn't notice.

"Mikai…" Genkai placed her head down with a sigh. "A Rajon hole is difficult to get out of but if she does two things may cause problems."

"Like what?" Yusuke asked as he moved closer towards Genkai.

"She could end up in a world that we have yet to hear of, or she may end up somewhere such as Antarctica. But the other thing that worries me is that…" Genkai sighed. "She may have no memory of anything."

"No…memory?" Yusuke asked.

"She won't remember any of us or anything that's happened for a few years," Genkai explained.

"Dammit!" Yusuke punched the ground underneath him. "I've really screwed everything up this time! Dammit!"

"Yusuke…" Genkai raised her hand and smacked Yusuke on the back of his head.

"Ow dammit!" Yusuke grabbed his head. "What the hell was that for?!"

"Don't be upset about this," Genkai said as she crossed her arms. "Mikai will do everything she can in order to get back to everyone she loves."

"Genkai?" a voice from behind said; Yusuke and the older woman to turned around. There stood Kurama, his eyes now dry.

"Yes Kurama?" Genkai answered.

"Is it true…Mikai won't have any memory of me if she escapes the Rajon hole?" Kurama asked.

"It's a possibility." Genkai hated to tell Kurama the truth but it was better then lying to him and keeping everything hidden from him.

"I'm going home now." Kurama turned away from the two and began to walk away.

"Kurama." Genkai called, and the red head turned back around out of respect. "Don't give up on anything."

"_Never abandon anything"_

He had to keep going. He told Yomi never to give up on anything, or leave anything behind so he had keep believing in the fact that Mikai would come back. He had to keep believing as long as he could.

"I never want any of you to leave."

"Mikai never wanted any of us to leave," Kurama said as he looked at Yusuke. "And yet…she left us."

"It's not like she did it on purpose!" Yusuke yelled as he stood up. "Dammit Kurama you act like you're the only one who got hurt!"

"Yusuke." Kurama turned away. "I'd rather not discuss this right now."

"Fine be that way!" Yusuke hissed.

"Yusuke," Kurama hissed as he turned back around. "I've just lost the woman I love so I'd rather not be bothered right now."

"You don't understand either!" Yusuke yelled back. "Mikai was one of my best friends dammit! We went through everything together and now it's all over! We went and did everything together!" His brown eyes began to puff up.

"I understand Yusuke." Kurama looked away. "Mikai and I had so many promises between us and I'm going to wait as long as I can to make sure that those promises are kept and met."

"Kurama!" Yusuke yelled, getting ready to tell Kurama how he felt about Mikai. He opened his mouth to say something but Genkai smacked him on the back of head once more.

"Kurama, please go home and take a small break. I'll come and talk to you about everything soon okay?" she said with her tired voice.

"Thank you." Kurama turned away and began to walk off of the temple. Genkai waited until she couldn't hear Kurama's footsteps anymore before she looked towards Yusuke.

"What the hell was that for?" Yusuke yelled as he held his head once more.

"Kurama's not ready to hear you tell him that you like Mikai too," Genkai explained. "He might end up regretting letting Mikai stay with you if you say anything."

"Damn." Yusuke looked away. "I'm being so stupid."

"You're not being stupid," Genkai said as she began to walk away from the black haired boy. "You're just confused about your feelings like any normal teenager."

The old woman walked ahead of Yusuke and stopped when she found herself standing in front of one of her sliding doors. She placed one hand on the door but stopped moving when she heard Yusuke sniffling.

"It's good to have you back dimwit," she said gently.

Yusuke looked up and watched Genkai open the door, and walk in without turning around at all. He looked away, back up at the moon. It looked just like the moon, which looked down at him when he had that dream or whatever it was about Mikai when they were both in bed together.

_When are you coming back…Mikai?_ Yusuke asked himself as he looked away from the moon and let small tears fall down his face.

* * *

Genkai walked into her room and looked around it. She sighed a bit as she sat down on her bed and began to think.

_Someone like Mikai who has this much to live for can't be dead and there's no way that she can forget everyone._ She thought. _She'd better come back soon.

* * *

_

Kurama had caught the late trains home, and he walked into his house late into the night. He looked around his living room and saw that everything was dark. He sighed and walked back into his room, closing his door quietly behind him.

He was too tired to change into new clothes, and at the moment he didn't care. He fell into bed and looked up at the white ceiling, lined with popcorn.

Was everything true or was everything some kind of nightmare he was having? Could Mikai really be gone? He reached down into his pocket and pulled out the small necklace he had given to her when they made their promise to go to the beach together.

_Everything can't be over_. Kurama thought. _We barely got to start anything._

Kurama rolled over onto his side and placed the necklace down in front of him. He looked away from it and looked to the right of his room where his eyes landed on the pure white promise rose, which stood there, waiting. Kurama realized what it meant and he got up, walking over to it. He picked it up gently, almost fearing that it would fall apart in his hands as it did so. He looked at it and discovered that it didn't show any signs of dying or fading away.

_Mikai…_ Kurama thought as he gently touched one of the petals. _If this rose is still healthy…then that has to mean that Mikai's still alive and…she's out there somewhere._

He felt happy somewhere in his head but then he realized what else it meant. Seeing the rose everyday meant that he would be reminded over and over again that Mikai was out there somewhere, but she wasn't there with him like he thought it should be. She was somewhere out there, with or without memory of him and he didn't know how long he could wait for her before his heart turned cold and bitter towards the whole thing.

_When you're in love, you make promises you both wish to keep and can't keep._ Kurama told himself. _And I hope this is a promise you wish…and can keep.

* * *

_

Two weeks had passed since Yusuke had come back from the Makai and told everyone about Mikai. Everyone was now waiting, waiting as long as they could.

Kurama was standing in front of the cherry tree he had always climbed as a child. He looked up at it as small pink blossoms feel from it, and gently hit the ground beneath it. Kurama's red hair moved also, catching a few petals as he looked at the tree, seeming almost memorized by it.

_Marriage promise._ He thought.

**000000000**

Kurama was standing next to the cherry blossom tree with Mikai, the both of them were looking up at it in awe.

"Wow Kurama," Mikai said gently. "It's really pretty."

"I used to play here all the time as a child," Kurama said as he smiled at Mikai. "I really love this tree."

Mikai grinned and walked over to the tree, placing her right hand flat on the tree. She looked back at Kurama as her hair moved in the small wind. Her eyes landed on his and created a gentle content feeling to run through the both of them.

"Let's get married under this tree Kurama," Mikai said gently. "Okay?"

Kurama smiled. "Yes."

**0000000000**

A small flashback, to Kurama but it still meant so much to him. To him, it made the cherry blossom tree that much more special. He remembered how the cherry blossom tree seemed to help him in his fight with Shigure.

_This tree…it means so much. _Kurama thought.

"Do you think Shuuichi is okay?" Kazuyu asked as he looked at Shiori. The both of them were sitting at a small white table with small cups of tea as they looked out towards Kurama.

"Yes why?" Shiori asked as she looked out towards her son.

"He just seems a bit sadder then usual," Kazuyu said with a low sigh. "I wonder why."

"Maybe he's just a little lonely," Shiori answered. "He told me that Mikai was coming back two years ago and he's still waiting. She was supposed to be back already but for some reason she hasn't yet."

"Who is Mikai anyway?" Kazuyu asked. "I've heard a few things about her but not that much."

"Mikai is a girl who Shuuichi met a while back. They've been going out for a while but a couple of years ago she went home to America and she was supposed to come back but she didn't. Then when we were on our honeymoon Shuuichi told me that he had found her but when we came back, she went back to America for whatever reason," Shiori answered.

"Poor Shuuichi." Kazuyu sighed. "Do you think he'll be okay?"

"He'll be fine." Shiori smiled. "I'm sure Mikai will come back to him. She didn't seem like the kind of girl who would just up and leave Shuuichi."

Kurama walked away from the cherry tree and up to where his mother and stepfather were. He began to walk past them when Shiori looked at him, remembering something.

"Oh Shuuichi?" she asked as she tugged on him. "This came in the mail for you."

"Thank you." Kurama picked up the small letter and walked away with it. He walked into his room and sat down at his desk, and opened it.

_To Shuuichi Minamino _

_In response to your grades and high GPA we would like to once more ask you to attend our college here in America. Our school, Falling Star College, would greatly benefit from having someone like you at our college. Again, please attend our college._

Kurama sighed and placed the letter down. He didn't know what he was going to do anymore.

"_Do you want to?"_

What reason was there for him to stay in Japan? There was nothing there for him now, just old friends and old faces. There wasn't anything there for his future anymore.

Kurama began to look out of his window but something else caught his eyes. The small white rose which looked as good as the day Kurama had created it. That was his reason to stay in Japan. As long as that flower was still blooming and living, Kurama had to live in Japan, and wait.

* * *

R&R please! 


	23. Confessions Of Rainfall

I don't own YYH or any of it's characters. I only own Mikai, Sotto, Yuzu, and Reijii.

0000000000000-shows a flashback and when you see it again, that means that the flashback is over.

Enjoy!

* * *

Six months had past, since everything had happened and in that six months, almost just as much happened. Kuwabara and Reijii now lived together in Kuwabara's house, Hiei and Sotto were now together almost full time unless Sotto was up in Spirit World looking through files to see if Mikai's had come up yet, and Yusuke was growing closer and closer to Yuzu but something was holding him back, and in order to fix it, he had to tell everyone how he felt.

"Hey Kuwabara?" Yusuke asked as the two of them basked in the warm sunlight of a mid summer day.

"What is it Urameshi?" Kuwabara asked, not bothering to open his closed eyes to look at him.

"Can I tell you something? Something really important?"

"Sure."

"I…" He looked up towards the sky. "Really…really like Mikai."

"We all do." Kuwabara sighed, finding it odd that he hadn't heard that name in a while after all no one really said anything about her anymore so that they wouldn't upset Kurama.

"I mean more then a friend."

"What!?" Kuwabara yelled as he sat up and looked at the black haired boy. "What'da mean you like Mikai more then a friend?! I thought you liked Yuzu!"

"I do," Yusuke answered, keeping his eyes looking towards the sky. "But in order to move on with Yuzu, I have to let everyone know how I felt about Mikai too."

"But you can't do that to Kurama!" Kuwabara protested as he jumped up. "That poor guy has been waiting six months for her to come back and there hasn't been one sign of her! Why the hell are you doing this Urameshi?"

"Look." Yusuke growled as he sat up. "When Mikai was gone, all anyone could ever think about was Kurama and how he felt. I knew Mikai for years and disappeared in front of me, no one gave a damn about how I felt! You and her are the only two people who have ever given a rat's ass about me and when I watched her fall it tore my heart out! It's my fault that Mikai is gone! Everything's my fault!"

Kuwabara remained quiet as he listened to Yusuke's outburst, and he discovered that he had been wrong to only think of Kurama. Yusuke too had been hurt by everything that had happened, and Kuwabara didn't even consider that Yusuke might feel guilt for not being able to help Mikai when she needed it the most.

"And," Yusuke continued as he looked away. "I'm sorry I can't help the way I feel but after fighting Mikai, I discovered that I liked her and cared for her."

"Urameshi…" Kwuabara sighed. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Yusuke hissed.

"My outburst. I should have thought about everything you were feeling." He put his head down. "Usually I would rely on Mikai to tell me off if I were hurting your feelings but I guess I have to do it on my own now."

"Thanks for the apology," Yusuke said with a small smile.

"But Urameshi can I ask you one more thing?"

"Sure."

"Do you love her?"

Yusuke looked shocked by that question. He looked away as if he were thinking the question over almost. Did he? It was such a simple question but the answer was so hard. He came to a temporary answer, and figured that it was the best one.

"No…that's too cliché," he answered.

"So," Kuwabara said, starting something new figuring that the old question was too much for Yusuke to think about at the time. "Did she like you?"

"You know," Yusuke said as he began to laugh. "You're the only one who didn't notice that."

"What?" Kuwabara yelled feeling embarrassed. "How the hell was I supposed to know that she had a crush on you!"

"Everyone else did!" Yusuke said as he laughed.

"It's not funny!" Kuwabara yelled. "Damn." He looked away with a slight blush on his face.

Yusuke giggled a bit more before he came back to normal. "Anyway…"

"She never told me that she liked you." Kuwabara said as he looked back at Yusuke.

"She asked me out."

"Really?!"

"And I asked her." Yusuke sighed as he looked back out at the sky. "Even though I already knew what her answer was going to be."

"When did you do that?" Kuwabara asked, feeling odd. Him, Yusuke, and Mikai had always been a trio of some sorts and he just found it odd that they both kept something like this a secret from him. He also found it strange how they had never gone out even though it was now apparent that they both liked each other.

"Back in the Makai."

**000000**

Yusuke and Mikai were sitting down, both out of breath. Both of them had cuts and bruises on their bodies from all of the training they had been doing and because of everything; they figured that they deserved a break.

"Hey Mikai?" Yusuke asked once he had caught some of his breath back.

"What?" She panted.

"Wanna do something crazy?"

"Sure."

"Let's stay here in the Makai," he asked. "Let's not go back to the Ningenkai. We have everything we need here don't we? Let's stay here…and go out."

Mikai fell onto her back and began to laugh. Yusuke, blinked for a few minutes before he began to do the same. He too fell onto his back and looked up at the large purple sky.

"Why don't you go sneeze that idea out of your head?" Mikai teased as the dirt fell back down around her.

The two were quiet as Mikai realized what Yusuke was doing. He was doing the same thing she had done when she asked Yusuke out so long ago. She smiled as she rolled over to face Yusuke only to see him looking towards the sky.

"You know when I look at you all I see are a bunch of what if's?" she teased.

"You too."

"You know I'm gonna tell you something that's gonna piss you off," Mikai said as she stood up and stretched her arms over her head. "If you would have asked me to go out with you when I first met Kurama, I would have said yes."

"I'll be dammed," Yusuke said as he sat up. He sighed and figured that he'd better get back to what he was doing in the first place. "Can you help me up?"

"Sure."

Mikai reached her hand out, and grabbed Yusuke's arm, and that was when Yusuke realized that he was never going to hold Mikai's hand romantically. Her hand was always going to be there to help him, never to pull him towards him in a passionate embrace. Their fingers were never going to be laced together; instead they would always be closed, helping one another.

"Let's get training," Mikai said with a smile.

Yusuke hopped up and dusted himself off. He stretched his arms over his head and got ready for the next round of fighting they were going to be going through in a few moments.

**0000000**

"So…I guess you don't love her," Kuwabara said as he looked back at Yusuke.

"No…I don't think I do either."

"I think you should go and tell Kurama about everything," Kuwabara said, remembering the red head. "But I think it took a lot of guts to tell me how you felt but remember to also tell Yuzu how you feel about her."

"Yuzu?" Yusuke repeated.

"Yeah, she likes you." Kuwabara laughed for he couldn't see why women would like someone like Yusuke. "I just don't want you to repeat the same mistake twice ya know by not telling Yuzu everything. Don't lost Yuzu like you lost Mikai."

A small clap of thunder caught their attention and they looked up towards the dark sky. Both of them sighed once more, and Kuwabara turned away.

"I'm going home now okay?"

"Okay." Yusuke smiled. "Tell Reijii I said hi okay?"

"Anything Urameshi," Kuwabara said as he waved his hand in the air, telling Yusuke good-bye in his own way. Yusuke smiled a bit, and then began to walk towards Kurama's house.

_Thanks Kuwabara…_ Yusuke thought as he walked away.

* * *

"Good bye Mother," Kurama said gently.

"Be careful Shuuichi!" Shoiri said as she looked at her only red head.

"I will be." Kurama smiled.

His mother, step-father, and little brother were going off to some family reunion near the mountains and Kurama didn't feel very much like attending so he was staying behind to watch the house.

"Bye!" They waved as the train's doors closed, and took off with Kurama's only family in it.

"Good bye," He whispered as he watched.

* * *

Kurama was walking home, no aware of the ominous gray clouds above his head. He picked up his pace a bit more but soon heard someone calling his name over and over again.

"Shuuichi!" a female voice yelled. "Shuuichi wait up!"

He turned around to see one of his female ex-classmates running up to him. She stood next to him and looked at him cutely as she began to catch her breath.

"Hi!" she said.

"Hello Sakura." he said gently.

"I…uh…just wanted to know…" She blushed. "Will you go out with me?"

Kurama looked away. He coughed a bit and thought it over. He was still waiting. He looked back at her with an empty smile.

"I'm sorry Sakura," he answered.

"Why?" she asked. "We're not in school anymore! Unless…" She backed down. "You're waiting for someone…"

"I am," he confessed.

"Oh." She turned her back to him. "She must be very lucky…to have someone like you Shuuichi."

"Thank you." He smiled, still empty.

"I'll…see you later…" She ran away from the red head, off into the distance and Kurama began to walk off once more.

He did feel a bit bad for turning her down, but then again he knew that she would never accept him for everything he was down on the inside like Mikai had. He figured that she would be the only one who ever would, and figured that he would forever be Shuuichi, never Kurama to another woman.

* * *

Yusuke was on his way back to Kurama's house when he saw him walking on the streets, just like he had been when he first met him. Yusuke smiled and ran over to him, and grabbed him on the shoulder.

"Hello Yusuke." Kurama said once he had looked at who grabbed him.

"Kurama I need to talk to you," Yusuke said seriously.

"Sure." Kurama blinked, curiously.

Yusuke walked with Kurama and brought him to the back of the pastry shop where he had first met Mikai. He looked around the area as Kurama did too, but then looked at Yusuke.

"What is it?" Kurama asked.

"This is where…I first met Mikai," Yusuke said in a low tone. "This is where we first fought."

"Yusuke what is it?" Kurama didn't really want to talk about Mikai since he had become so sensitive on the subject and it rather got him upset when someone brought up the subject of her.

Yusuke walked over to Kurama and stood in front of him, his eyes looking into his as the seriousness of Yusuke's eyes, fell into Kurama's.

"I want you to hit me as hard as you can," Yusuke ordered.

"Why?" Kurama asked with confusion.

"Because…" Yusuke looked away but quickly looked back at the red head. "I like Mikai…more then a friend…and I feel like I'm betraying you."

Kurama looked away. "I can't hit you Yusuke."

"Why not!?" Yusuke yelled. "I want you to hit me hard enough to knock this idea out of my head!"

Kurama couldn't hit Yusuke, it wasn't right. Why should he punish Yusuke for telling him how he felt about something? Even though a part of Kurama did want to hit Yusuke for telling him that he liked the woman he loved, he couldn't do that to someone he had known for so long.

Thunder clapped above the two once more, but it failed to grab their attention.

"I'm sorry Yusuke," Kurama said as he backed away from the black haired boy. "I can't hit you."

Kurama walked away from the other boy as he called his name over and over again. Yusuke hissed as he watched Kurama walk away, and slammed his fist into the brick wall next to him.

"Dammit," he cursed.

* * *

Kurama arrived home an hour later, wet. The rain had caught him on his way in so he ran the rest of the way. He walked into his living room and looked at a nearby clock.

3:30

_I still have time._

He walked back into his room, and over his desk. Sitting there were the college papers, which he had to have in my five so he could go to his new home, America.

He grabbed the letter and before he left, he looked back at the pure rose and saw that a petal had fallen off of it. He looked away from it and walked out of the room.

_I'm sorry._ He thought. _But I can't wait anymore. I have to do something…for me now. It's the only thing I have left._

He quickly walked out of his room, and over to the front door. He grabbed the handle and shivered a bit. Was he really going to send this letter in and travel to America, leaving everything behind? The few things he had left where in Japan, and by going to America, he would be so far away from them.

His phone rang and he stood there, wondering if he should pick up or not but before he could reach for it, the machining machine got it.

"You've reached the Minamino residence. Please leave a message," his stepfather's voice said followed by a beep.

"Yeah Kurama I mean Shuuichi or whatever…screw it," Yusuke's voice said through the speaker. "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for what I said back near the pastry shop. I'm sorry for everything man…" He sighed. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect Mikai and I'm sorry I couldn't bring her back to your door like a real man should have. I just want you to know…I wanna see you one more time…before you leave for America…or the Makai."

The message ended and Kurama now had something new to think about. The Makai. There was nothing here holding him back from going. He could go back to being Youko and never worry about anyone else ever again. Before he had stayed Shuuichi for his mother but she didn't need him anymore, no one needed him to stay Shuuichi, the lie he had been living for the past seventeen years.

_The Makai…or America?_ Kurama thought. _Damn._

He opened the door and walked out, grabbing a small umbrella on the way out. He opened it and stepped out into the rain and towards the post office.

Kurama was walking straight even though everything seemed so upside down to him. To go to the Makai, or America? In America he would be Shuuichi and in the Makai he would become his true self, Youko. He could pick up where he left off and become stronger but could Kurama truly abandon everything he had been working with for so long in one simple choice?

"_Never abandon anything…Never."_

He didn't want too. He wanted to go to America and try to find something there, and besides if Mikai ever did come back, she would know where to find him easily but it would be almost impossible in the Makai.

_America then…_ Kurama thought. _I'm going to college in America…in order to make my Mother happy._

He was forgetting about himself once more since Mikai wasn't there to remind him once more of how important _his_ feelings were. He thought over that, and discovered that he had to think something out for himself. This was his future, no one else's.

_I can go between college and the Makai_. Kurama figured. _I can do that…to please both sides of me._

Again he was trying to please both sides of him but this time, he was worried about whether Mikai would be able to find him or not so he had to prepare for everything and maybe he would be preparing for nothing.

_Mikai…There's a part of me…that wishes I could have fallen down into that hole with you._

Kurama's thoughts grew quiet as he listened to the rain around him. It was calming and peaceful, and took his mind off everything, which was happening to him. He sighed, and then his hearing picked up on someone walking. It was coming from in front of him but he didn't bother to look for there were people around him but then the footsteps stopped. Fearing that he would bump into the person, he looked upwards.

There soaked with the pure rain, which fell around them both stood Mikai. Her hair was stuck to her head and her clothes were dripping with water. Over her shoulder was a black bag. She looked at Kurama and smiled.

He dropped everything, the umbrella, and his letter, which fell into the puddle underneath him, smearing all of his writings. He ran towards her and wrapped his arms around her, wanting to know if everything he was seeing was real. Everything was proven to him when she wrapped her arms around him, and held him tightly to her body.

"I thought that you would never come back," Kurama whispered.

Mikai smiled. "I'll always come back for you. Always my love."

* * *

R&R please! 


	24. Resulting Future

I don't own YYH I only own Mikai, Yuzu, Reijii, and Sotto

Okay here it is the last chapter. It's been long, fun and all of that and the new story will be coming out soon once I get my lazy ass up and do it. Hope you like this chapter and how everything turned out! Enjoy!

* * *

Sun fell into a simple room and landed on Yusuke's face, telling him to wake up. He groaned and opened his eyes only to have the sun invade them. He sat up, the white blankets falling around his bare chest as he looked at the person lying next to him.

Yuzu

He smiled, seeing how cute she was as she slept. Her brown hair was spread around the white pillow underneath her, and her mouth was open a bit as she took in deep breaths. His eyes then looked back up towards a clock, which was blinking a time in a bright red color.

12:45

He remembered the promise he had made to her, and lowered his face to Yuzu's. He began to rub his nose next to hers affectionately, waking her up with a slight dust of blush covering her face. She looked gently up at Yusuke.

"Hey wake up," he said gently as he pulled his face back away from hers though his eyes were still looking into hers.

"Five more minutes Usuke," she said cutely.

He smiled. "Okay." He laid down and closed his eyes only to have a loud screeching noise wake him back up. He got up, grabbed the alarm and slammed his fist down on it, causing it to go silent.

"Hey you two!" Atsuko said as she popped her head into the room. "Get up or you're going to be late! You don't wanna miss Mikai and Kurama leaving do you?"

"Thanks mom," Yusuke groaned as he stuffed his face in his pillow.

"Come on." Yuzu hopped out of bed and began to look around the room for her clothes. Yusuke sighed and did the same.

* * *

The same sun, which had awoken Yusuke was now shining down on Kuwabara's face, but it didn't wake him up. His mouth was opening and closing as he took in deep breathes, and small kitten crawled all around him mewing and playing with each other.

"Hey!" Reijii called as she walked into the room. "Kazu wake up! We're going to be late hurry up!"

"Wha?" Kuwabara asked tiredly as he opened one of his eyes. He groaned and rolled over onto his side, refusing to get up. _Jeez she always had to wake up at the crack of dawn to do something._ He thought as he began to fall back asleep.

Reijii puffed up her cheeks, not liking to be ignored or turned away from. "If you don't get up I'm not going to sleep with you anymore!" She threatened.

"Aw come on Reijii!" Kuwabara said as he jumped up. "Don't be so rash!"

"Hurry up then!" Reijii called with a small tease in her voice.

* * *

Sotto opened her eyes and looked around the small tree she and Hiei had been living in. She moved her neck, cracking it a bit only to find that there was a small note stuck to her forehead. She took it off of her forehead and looked at the small yellow sticky note.

_Sotto, _

_I'll miss you when I'm gone. I find myself rather selfish for always being the one complaining about being alone and here I am leaving you all behind. I hope you and Chibi have a happy time for the time Kurama and I are gone. I'll miss you with all of my heart and I love you._

_Thank you for letting me go._

_Mikai_

Sotto smiled, feeling content. She folded the small paper and placed it in one of her pockets. She then hopped to another branch and found Hiei sleeping on it with a small bit of drool coming down from the side of his mouth.

"Hiei?" she called as she hopped over to him and gently shook him. "Come on Hiei we have to get going before we're late!"

Hiei opened one of his eyes and looked at his one and only kitten. He reached out for her and pulled her close to him, giving her a small kiss on the lips.

"Aw hurry up," she said as she rubbed her face next to his. "I don't wanna miss Mikai and Kurama."

* * *

Kuwabara sighed as he walked down the street with Reijii hand in hand with him. Reijii looked up at him.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothin' I'm just happy that everything worked out," Kuwabara answered. "Mikai coming back six months ago just brought Kurama's Spirit up so much and now…it looks like everything's going to be okay between those two."

"Thank God." Reijii sighed.

"I'm happy that Yusuke also found himself someone," Kuwabara added. "He's finally standing up on his own two feet with Yuzu standing next to him."

"It's weird," Reijii said. "I never really pictured Yuzu and Yusuke together. Sometimes…people fit together the minute you see them and yet it seemed like it took Yusuke forever to admit his feelings."

"Well he had to get over Mikai first," Kuwabara answered. "How a small lady like that could cause such a big fuss is beyond me."

"Hey," Reijii hissed. "Remember I was a bit of a fuss to get too also." She placed her head in his chest as they walked.

"Yeah and it was all worth it," Kuwabara said as he snuggled his face next to hers.

Yusuke was walking with Yuzu when they passed a small store. She looked through one of the windows and saw something.

"Hey hold on Usuke," she said as she stopped walking. "I see something I wanna get Mikai."

"I'll wait out here okay?" he said as he kissed her on her forehead. "I'll see if I can see anyone else."

"Kay."

Yuzu ran into the store, leaving Yusuke outside. He sighed and looked across the street and saw the small pastry store sitting there. He walked towards it, then behind it, looking at the spot where he had met Mikai, and where he had asked Kurama to hit him. So much had happened right there in that one spot which had led to so much more. What would have happened if he had never met Mikai there? Would he have met her later on? Or not at all?

"Hey Urameshi what are you doin' back here?" Kuwabara asked as he walked over to Yusuke.

"Nothing." He smiled. "Just thinking everything over. Where's Reijii?"

"She saw Yuzu in the store and went in. I thought I would stay back and wait until I saw someone else," Kuwabara explained.

They both fell quiet for a moment as they looked at the spot, and memories flooded through the both of them, mostly Yusuke. This place had been used by him and Mikai over and over again, and nothing could destroy those memories. But the most important to him was when they first met.

"_Are you Yusuke Urameshi?" _

"_Yeah so?" _

"_I'm Mikai Akata and I've been looking for you."_

The fight had been one of the best fights Yusuke had ever been in. He smiled as he remembered how Mikai lost and soon admitted her defeat like a true fighter. But being there reminded him of everything over and over again.

"She never told me she was sorry for kicking my ass," Kuwabara hissed.

"Never did?" Yusuke asked as he looked at the orange haired boy. "That's funny."

The two fell quiet once more. Feelings were running through the both of them, and it was hard for them to find the one, which was causing everything else. It felt so weird to be back at the spot where they had met Mikai for the first time after everything had happened. Rando, The Four Holy Beasts, saving Yukina, The Dark Tournament, Sensui and finally the Makai. The place where everything had gone down, and everyone set their cards on the table for everyone to see. Everything was out in the open when they were in the Makai, and each of them had so much to lose.

"I was never good at saying good bye," Kuwabara confessed breaking the silence between them.

Yusuke sighed and looked up towards the sky. "It's going to be hard letting her go."

Kuwabara jumped backwards in shock and looked at Yusuke. He looked around, brought his head down, and his hand to his mouth in order to keep everything hidden from the world.

"You don't still like Mikai do you?" he whispered.

Yusuke smiled and then shook his head back and forth, telling Kuwabara no. Kuwabara sighed and looked away.

"That's good," he said.

"I'll always wonder though," Yusuke added. "What could have happened but I know nothing will. We'll never go through that again."

"What are you morons doing?" Hiei asked. Yusuke and Kuwabara turned around to see him standing in the alleyway with Sotto standing next to him.

"Nothing." Yusuke smiled.

"Don't call me a moron!" Kuwabara yelled as he looked at the smaller man. "Damn at least I don't have to stand on a phone book to kiss my one true love!"

"Oh shut up!" Hiei hissed.

"Don't listen to him," Sotto said as she wrapped her arms around Hiei, hugging him tightly. "I love you the way you are."

Hiei looked away blushing, while Yusuke and Kuwabara giggling. Yuzu walked into the alleyway with Reijii standing next to her. They both had a small bag in their hands, which they held close to their bodies.

"We're ready to go if you are," Reijii said as she looked at all of them.

"We'd better go," Kuwabara said as he began to walk out of the alleyway. "If we're late Mikai will bite our heads off."

"Yeah." Yuzu giggled. "Come on."

* * *

The group began to walk away but Yusuke stayed. He looked at the spot and something came back to him. The feeling of being a kid. Back then everything was good, and simple but when he began to fight, everything fell down and broke.

_Mikai…I'll miss you._ He thought.

"Urameshi!" Kuwabara called. "Come on already!"

Yusuke broke his eyes away from the single place and he walked towards everyone else, who were waiting for him. He joined them, and they began to walk towards the airport where they would be losing two of their best friends.

* * *

The group walked into the airport as the sun began to set. They walked around, looking for platform ten. They looked around, until they came to a platform, which had people running around it. There standing there were Mikai and Kurama, hand in hand.

"Hey!" Sotto said happily as she ran ahead of everyone.

"I have something to tell all of you," Mikai said with a tone of nervousness in her voice.

"What?" Reijii asked as she walked up to Mikai and Kurama with the rest of the group.

"This trip may take longer then we thought," Kurama said, taking the subject over. "Some things have come up and we've found that it would just be better for us to spend a bit more time in America." He smiled.

"Don't worry." Yusuke said with a slight laugh. "We'll all be here waiting for you guys to get back."

"Thanks." Mikai smiled.

Yuzu and Reijii stepped up towards the couple. They handed them their bags with smiles on their faces. Mikai took the bags with a tears falling down her smile.

"Thanks you guys," she whispered. She reached forward and grabbed Yuzu. She squeezed her tightly, and let go gently. She then looked at Reijii and blinked.

"What?" she asked.

"Can I hug you?" Mikai asked. "I know how you don't like to be hugged."

"Fine." Reijii sighed as she opened her arms playfully. Mikai reached out and hugged her tightly, giving her a hug for the first time in years. She let her go, and looked at Reijii who smiled back at her.

"MIKAI!" Sotto yelled as she pushed everyone out of the way and grabbed her around the neck. "Oh Mikai I'm going to miss you!"

"I'm gonna miss you too Sotto," Mikai said after the first shock. She then hugged her tightly, gripping her shirt in her fists. "Don't marry Hiei without me."

"Don't worry." Sotto giggled. "I'll wait."

The kitten pulled away from Mikai with small tears in her eyes. She didn't want to let Mikai go, but she knew that Kurama and Mikai need time alone and that they deserved it so she wasn't going to protest. Besides, she had to take care of Hiei, which was more then a handful.

Mikai then hugged Kuwabara tightly, and looked at Hiei. He just hissed at her, so Mikai turned to Yusuke. He smiled and opened his arms to her. She smiled back and fell into his arms, hugging him tightly.

"Don't you dare ask Yuzu to marry you while I'm gone," Mikai whispered with a small hiss behind it.

Yusuke laughed gently. "Fine I'll wait. Just make sure to get back before she gets impatient."

"I will." She laughed gently.

They felt their chests rising as well as their backs as they laughed and they both knew that it was their own way of crying since they knew that they weren't going to cry in front of each other or cry about losing one another. They both wanted to see who was stronger and see who could outlast each other like they always did.

Yusuke held her tightly and gripped her clothing in his fists. She did the same to him, both of them almost afraid to let each other go since they had been holding on to each other for so long now; letting go was going to be hard but something they both needed.

Mikai finally pulled away and looked Yusuke. She raised her fist and gently hit in the chin. He looked at her and smiled.

"One day Urameshi," she said playfully. "You'd better watch your back."

"I look forward to it," Yusuke said as he reached forward and did the same to her.

_I don't understand it._ Kurama thought. _And I don't think I ever will. Yusuke did like Mikai more then a friend but he never loved her and maybe that's because they're so alike. Yusuke needs someone different, someone like Yuzu as Mikai said. And here in front of me I can see Yusuke letting go of Mikai, the person he's cared to for so long. She's security blanket…and he's hers._

"Flight ten to America will be leaving in five minutes please bored now." A female voice said over the intercom.

"This is it," Mikai said as she looked at everyone.

"Hey Kurama," Yusuke said as he looked at the red head. "Be safe okay? If you ever run into a problem, you can call us and we'll be there in a heartbeat."

"Yeah!" Kuwabara said happily. "Anytime!"

"Hn." Hiei looked away, but gave Kurama a look, which told him that he would help if Kurama ever needed it.

"Thank you." Kurama smiled. "I'll miss everyone and you'll be in our hearts the whole time we're gone."

"Be careful…you guys," Yusuke said happily.

"We will be," Mikai said happily. "And we'll come back as soon as we can."

_Hopefully going to America for a while will allow Mikai and Kurama some time alone to discover what it is that they wanna do_. Yusuke thought. _Let everything be worth it_.

Everyone watched as Kurama and Mikai turned their backs away from everyone and began to walk towards the entrance to their plane. They felt their hearts break and they watched them walk away. Even though they knew that they were going to see each other again but still, seeing them go was hard. Some of them felt selfish for not wanting the two of them to go because they knew that this trip to America was going to allow Kurama and Mikai to be alone, and grow. They knew that they were going to be back and things would be normal and they would build more days to keeping fighting for.

"Bye!" Mikai called as she walked away. "Thank you for everything!"

"Bye!" Kurama waved.

"You'd better come back in one piece!" Yusuke yelled.

They all watched Kurama and Mikai give their tickets away, and then they boarded their plane, Mikai giving everyone one last look before she disappeared behind the entrance to the plane.

"They're gone…" Kuwabara sighed. "For a while."

"They'll come back," Sotto said happily. "I know they will."

"They'd better," Reijii hissed. "I don't care who he is, I'm not going to let any man take away someone as close to me as Mikai."

"Vicious," Yuzu said with a slight laugh. "I think we can trust Mikai with what she's doing. She's going with her heart, just like we have."

"Everything will be fine." Hiei said as he looked at the plane.

"Aw Hiei you care!" Sotto said as she wrapped her arm around the smaller man. He blushed once more and looked away.

"Everyone will be alright," Kuwabara said as he wrapped his arms around Reijii who cuddled next to him gently.

They stood there, waiting and minutes later they watched the plane get ready to leave. It backed up and began to pick up speed. Yusuke walked closer, and closer to the plane until the glass stopped him. He watched as the plane began to take off into the sunset and he found that his heartbeat was picking up. He smiled and watched the plane leave him behind just as it had a few years ago when Mikai left for America alone.

"You're an ass too…Mikai," Yusuke whispered as he watched the plane leave.

"Usuke!" Yuzu called. "Come on we've got to go back now!"

Yusuke took one last look at the plane, and turned away. He took a deep breath as he ran back to Yuzu, Kuwabara, Reijii, Hiei, and Sotto. They were people who he could always rely on and people who would always be there for him, just as Mikai was for so many years.

The End


End file.
